ADA After Dark Angel
by ProlificP
Summary: Max is the new leader of TC, Alec her unofficial sidekick. What happens after FN? Max's sibs are back, is romance brewing? Hmm, decisions, decisions. MA pls Read!
1. Aftermath

Disclaimer- None of the characters of Dark Angel belong to me (sob) they are property of James Cameron and Charles H Eglee

Summary- Max is the new leader of TC, Alec her unofficial sidekick. What happens after FN? (I'm sorry that doesn't explain it at all, just read it's a combination of stuff not just one plot that continues like how different episodes have different plots) M/A 

Background Info- Takes place after Freak Nation. It's been a couple of weeks or so since the siege began. Max is the official leader of TC and Alec is the unofficial 'sidekick' but equally as respected. OC and Sketchy have left because of the toxins of Terminal City but Logan is still there, helping out here and there. Dix is the computer whiz with the monocle and Mole is, well we should all know Mole. I've invented some characters, don't think they play a big part. 

A/N- For starters, this is my first DA fic and I don't know where it's going. Think of it as a consolidated season 3 but not quite season 3. I'm confusing aren't I? O well, read and find out.

A/N2-The words in ** are thoughts and I use italics all over the place to mean different things.

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Chapter 1- Aftermath

Max poured over the plans that Dix, Mole and various other 'nomalies had drawn up. She was trying to figure out the best, and safest routes in and out of Terminal City; it was obvious that they would need to venture out soon, it had barely been a month but supplies were running low and a couple of X-5s were feeling the lack of trytophan. She hadn't slept for three days straight and shark DNA or not that rusty, creaky bed she had been assigned was beginning to look like heaven. She could just imagine the soft comfort of sleep as it overtook her…

"Hey Max" came a familiar voice from the doorway, snapping her out of her reverie.

 Max automatically reacted, "What the hell do you want Alec?" she snapped.

"Jeez relax Max; I was just wondering if you wanted any help"

When she turned around she saw the cocky smile on his face but she also the slight hardness in the set of his jaw, "Sorry, I'm just so tired…"

"It's Ok, I get it. So need me?"

"Well no, I don't _need_ you, but I want you"

His eyebrows rose and he smirked, "Is that a fact?"

Bemused, Max thought back on what she had said then something clicked, "eww, no not that way Alec, I want you to help out"

He pouted in mock disappointment "Sure, what do I do?"

"Well for starters you can sort this stuff out, then this and go over that tell me what you think, then…" 15 mins later she had given him a huge list of things to do.

"Is that all?" he asked in a small voice.

"Nope there's more but that'll do for now, maybe I can catch Logan, gotta blaze" Just before she walked out she turned back "Oh, umm Alec?" He glanced up at her "Thanks" She expected some smart-alec comment but he just grinned "Anytime Maxie". Max smiled wearily and with a halfhearted "Don't call me that" dashed out. "Anytime at all" he whispered after her retreating back.

***************************

 "Hey you"

"Hey yourself" Logan replied turning around to smile longingly at Max.

He had been typing away at his laptop, coming up with places to hit up for money, food and other supplies including weapons. He hadn't been getting much more sleep than Max. She moved to sit on the table next to him, facing the door, but kept her distance.

"Listen, about this whole TC thing…"

"No Logan," she interrupted him "You have to go"

He looked up at her pleadingly, her features softened, "Listen I know you don't want to but I can't risk losing you to some other chemically-engineered virus, it's like if it isn't your bio-hazard girlfriend then it's the toxins of TC, no way are you staying here. The only reason I let you stay so long is the transfusion you got from Joshua, it's given you some immunity but it'll wear off. OC and Sketch left yesterday" A slight tinge of pain entered her voice at this point "You have to leave by the end of the week" she ended in a whisper.

"Right, I'll be ready to go. I'll have finished the lists by tomorrow, I won't be needed then, you and Alec will manage fine" he tried to hide the bitterness he felt.

Max was puzzled, "Me and Alec? Oh right, about that…"

"It's all right; everyone's willing to follow the two leaders of TC"

"We're… wait, TWO leaders? What… never mind" She looks nervous "IliedtoyouAlecandmearenottogether" she blurted.

"Umm, Max could you repeat that?"

She sighed "I lied to you, Alec and me aren't together. I did it to keep you safe"    

Logan smiled it was like someone had turned the light back on, "Really?"

"Really really"

Logan grabbed Max's hand, she almost jerked away then realised he was wearing gloves. They just sat there for a while.

**************************

That's the way Alec found them when he came in, just staring into each others eyes, two star-crossed lovers, how sweet. It made him want to hurl.

"Uh Max, we have a situation" he put a hand behind him to quickly scratch his head in thought, "Maaaaaaax" didn't work "Yo Maxie!" he barked, okay that worked her head whipped around so fast, he was surprised she hadn't broken it.

"What did you do this time Alec?" she asked testily

"I didn't do anything, and why don't you come find out yourself" He'd figured out that Max had told Logan already, and if she hadn't well he wasn't that big a chimp Alec supposed, he must've figured it out.

She glared at him evilly, all previous gratitude forgotten as she inwardly cursed the devil of a man before her that in her opinion had just stolen what could possibly have been the last moments she had left with the man she loved. "Fine" she said through clenched teeth and stalked out punching him on the way.

**************************

Mole was fairly worked up. "These bunch of raving lunatics just drove through the cursed perimeter in a damned jeep. They knocked down a good bit of fence too, claiming to be transgenics X-5s no less ha! I didn't see any barcodes. Ordinaries think they can infiltrate us, I say kill 'em"

"Mole!" Max snapped "There will be no _killing of any sort. Did they at least try to prove that they were X-5s? Blurring, cat vision, body temperature, anything?!"_

Mole looked sheepish "Well actually they offered, but we kind of locked them up in the storage room. They were asking for you, called you 452, we were suspicious"

"Well, take me to them" Max waited expectantly, Mole blinked "What?" "Take me to them!!!!" she screamed, her nerves were frayed and she was in no mood to act patient.

Alec had been watching this little exchange from the sidelines, he stepped in "I'll take you to them, Mole which storage room?" Mole opened his voice to mouth his protest but Alec looked at him warningly "5th door on the left wing" he said in a defeated voice "But I still don't think she should go alone". "Relax" Alec replied "I can take care of her"

"I don't need you to '_take care of me_' " Max said frostily

"Don't I know it" he muttered rubbing the spot on his shoulder that was still sore from Max's punch. 

***************************

Alec fumbled with the lock, "Hurry it up already" Max hissed. 

"Max is that you?" came a muffled voice through the door. It sounded exactly like… but no it couldn't be, could it? She quickly shoved Alec out of the way and wrenched the door open. "Syl? Oh my…" She flung her arms around her sister hugging for all she was worth before proceeding to similarly squeeze the life out of Zane, Krit and Jondy. Jondy was beginning to have trouble breathing "Uh, Max" then she become conscious of the fact that Max was softly sobbing into her shirt "Shh baby sister, it's ok we're here now, it's ok"

Alec watched Max as she cried her heart out, something that he knew she wouldn't have the luxury of doing anytime soon, it would be showing weakness and Max couldn't afford that now that she was the leader of TC. 

He watched jealously as her other 'brothers' and sister gathered around in a group hug to comfort her, she would never allow him to do that for her. He gave a wry smile thinking about how far they had come from Manticore where everything was viewed with cold objectivity- no emotions, no friends, no thought, no loyalties except for Manticore. He looked at the happy group one more time before deciding he wasn't needed and going back to the pile of work he had in Max's office.

Just as he was leaving Zane caught sight of him "Ben? Ben is that you?"

He froze. Max lifted a tearstained face to look over at him, "No that's his twin, Alec X5-494"

"X5R" he corrected softly. He realised everyone was staring at him, the cocky grin snapped back in place. "Yeah, me and good ol' Maxie here were breeding partners back at Manticore"

"_Breeding_ partners? Really?" Zane raised an eyebrow and looked at her questioningly; his eyes were sparkling in amusement.

"Yup, we clicked right away. Oh we got along very well, twice was it Max?"

Max flushed and glared at him heatedly "Nothing happened, I kind of kicked him really hard in the stomach when he told me that we were to 'copulate every night until I got pregnant' – not exactly the kind of love poetry to get a girl in the mood- and informed him that that was 'the only physical contact me and him were gonna have'. Of course like the smart-ass that he is, he just stole my bunk and slept, that's actually how he got his name- smart-alec, Alec. My second choice was Dick"

"You'll have to excuse Maxie; she has a peculiar fixation with my ass plus she's got this whole 'tough chic' thing going" he leaned forward and whispered in a conspiratory voice "Personally I think it's rather unbecoming, very unfeminene"

Max looked offended 'I do not, and I thought I told you not to call me that?!"

"Yeah well, you think a lot of things _Maxie" he winked_

"And what does that mean?"

"I don't know, you tell me"

"Alec, if you don't stop your…"

"Whoa, whoa there. If you guys didn't follow orders then how come Renfro didn't fry you?" Syl asked

"Well, Alec kind of lied and said that we had 'copulated' twice for good measure. He helped me escape. Of course" her voice hardened "He was under orders to gain my trust that entire time, they wanted me to escape; they placed a genetically targeted retrovirus in me, I'm the carrier, they figured I'd infect Logan, which I did; he was No.1 on their hitlist" She was glaring at him accusingly "At least I managed to get the antigen, no thanks to you".

"Hey, just following orders"

"Is that your excuse for everything?"

"Just about" he replied levelly

"So I suppose all the times you've messed up, the virus, the baseball, my research papers, almost getting Joshua killed, almost getting Logan killed, let's not forget me, then …

Suddenly an alarm sounded, the loud sirens affected the X-5s sensitive hearing and they cringed in pain. "MAX!!! WE NEED YOU DOWN HERE!" Mole yelled, his eyes quickly flicked at the strangers taking in the situation, apparently he considered it safe enough. "We're being attacked" he rasped.

Max dashed out, "Move it Alec!" He nodded at the confused newcomers "Welcome to Terminal City" then he walked out.  

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	2. Attack

_Recap - Suddenly an alarm sounded, the loud sirens affected the X-5s sensitive hearing and they cringed in pain. "MAX!!! WE NEED YOU DOWN HERE!" Mole yelled, his eyes quickly flicked at the strangers taking in the situation, apparently he considered it safe enough. "We're being attacked" he rasped._

_Max dashed out, "Move it Alec!" He nodded at the confused newcomers "Welcome to __Terminal__City__" then he walked out.  _

Chapter 2- Attack 

Max strode up to Dix "Report"

"A couple of dozen 'concerned citizens' decided to take matters into their own hands. They got hold of some weapons somehow and breached the perimeter, that big hole your friends here made", Dix glanced at Syl and the others that had followed Max "didn't help either, but it would've happened anyway"

"Threat?"

"Not really, but they could cause some damage. For all we know this is a diversion, White could come busting in at any moment"

"How many?"

"'Bout three dozen and some, 9 at the breach caused by the jeep, 14 by the warehouse, 6 at the old checkpoint, and 10 near the old bio-engineering lab"

"Right, we'll take care of it. I want a full alert on, everybody on guard. Zane, Syl, you guys take the ones at the breach." They nodded the affirmative "You're unfamiliar with the territory, take Dalton. I don't want any civilian causalities on our hands, we don't need to give them more reasons to 'neutralise' us" Max indicated the young X-6 that had been waiting for his orders.

"You guys packing?" Dalton asked, "Always" came Zane's easy reply.

"Krit, Jondy you guys take the ones at the lab. Take Lian" Max indicated a blonde X-5 that had taken refuge in TC earlier but was now an active member of the team, she was also awaiting orders "Same rules apply, avoid killing if you can".

"What about you?" Krit enquired.

"Alec and me will take the ones by the warehouse. Rhian, Shane you too" she beckoned to the redheaded and brunette X-6s respectively.

"Mole I want you to round up as many people as you need and take the ones at the checkpoint. Clear? Everybody move out!"

"Sure leave the leftovers for us" muttered Mole miffed at getting only 6 ordinaries to take out. 

****************************

 Max and her team stealthily approached the warehouse; they could hear the raucous noises the ordinaries were making a mile away, they seemed to be trashing everything in sight. Unfortunately not even transgenics could see through walls (or at least we haven't seen any that can), Max decided to move in; that warehouse had not been checked for salvageable items yet but she had a feeling that they wouldn't want the ordinaries to get a hold of anything in there. She used military hand signals to indicate that they split into pairs and circle around to opposite sides then attack. Alec automatically followed her but she stopped him with a hand to the chest and shoved him away, she point toward the opposite side then she beckoned Shane to come with her.  Alec hid his hurt feelings and led Rhian down the other way.

Max reached an entrance, the noises were much louder now and making her wince "Ready?" she whispered "On three, 1…"

"2" On the other side Alec had just reached his destination "…3"

They both jumped in at almost exactly the same time; Max kicked down the door, Alec just opened it "Well hello" he grinned maliciously at the startled ordinaries before leaping into them and laying out one after another.

Max lost no time jumping into the fray, she took down one guy with a spinning kick then decked another to temporarily take him out of the fight them proceeded to attack with a flurry of punches and kicks. Not far away Shane had a particularly ugly ordinary in a headlock counting down the seconds until he passed out and at the same time planting vicious kicks on those that dared venture near him. Rhian seemed to be enjoying it, taking down one opponent after another; she savoured the fight- they all did, it's what they were built for. 

One ordinary finally wised up to the fact that there wasn't a chance in hell he was going to win, he scurried up the scaffolding until he got to the second landing and ran towards the nearest exit as he saw it. Max noticed, so did Alec. She didn't even need to ask, she ran towards him and he steepled his hands to boost her up, she used her transgenic strength to leap, caught a hold of the raised platform, pulled herself up and chased after the person. She caught up to him and tripped him up, then performing the chokehold to knock him unconscious. A line that Normal used to use *well probably still does* popped into her head "Easy-peasy Japaneesy" she sang out. "Finally lost it, huh Maxie?" she turned around to face a grinning Alec, "All clear down there?"  "Pretty much, there was just one guy left when I came up here"    

Max started to grin, then one clear shot rang out in the dusky air.

******************************

Zane, Syl and Dalton made it to the breach just fine, they didn't encounter any stray ordinaries. The invaders were proceeding inward, destroying whatever they saw and whooping as they did it. They were nothing more than street bullies. Syl winced as they toppled a water tank; it didn't take a genius to figure out that right about now that water was a million bucks a drop as far as anyone was concerned; Dalton swore under his breath.

 "Three to one, no problems here" Zane whispered

Syl grinned "Let's get 'em"

Zane blurred into the bunch, knocking two unconscious as he whacked them on his way to the center. Dalton managed to knock off four of them using a pole he'd found somewhere or the other. Syl was taking on three at once, a feral urge possessing her as she nimbly punched, kicked and rammed her assailants unconscious. It was all over in 5 minutes.

"Well that was easy" Syl was grinning from ear to ear, then suddenly that grin disappeared "Zane, get down!" she screamed. Too late, just as she screamed a bullet left the gun of the sniper on the roof outside the perimeter heading straight for him. Two more followed in quick succession, time seemed to slow as they raced towards him. Zane went down.

************************

"It came from the west side" Alec said as soon as he heard the shot.

"That's where Zane, Syl and Dalton are!" Max cried, Alec could see concern etching every part of her. "We have to get there, now" Her tone brooked no arguments. They two transgenics blurred down to the X-6s, ordered them to follow then blurred off again.

When they got there they found Syl ducking behind some iron crates and Dalton pressed up against the wall. There seemed to be an all out shooting match going on. "Max take cover!!" Syl screamed. Her entire team quickly complied, ducking behind the nearest solid structures they could find. Alec and Max somehow found themselves behind a garbage bin; Alec quickly scanned the area to find the shooters then responded with shots of his own.

"What happened?" Max asked, she knew Syl could hear her through the noise.

"They got Zane" she replied softly, even with her enhanced hearing Max had trouble interpreting that but she was hoping she heard wrong.

"They what?"

"They got Zane" Syl said, louder this time.

Max slumped against the garbage bin just processing what she had heard: images of Tinga cold and dead in her arms floated unbidden in her mind, Ben blood trickling out of his mouth as he finally joined his Blue Lady, Eva's small lifeless form on the floor, Zack gone forever. Max let out a primal cry of rage and pain, she grabbed Alec's spare gun, jumped out from behind her cover, took aim and fired. There were three snipers, she used three bullets, when she finished there were no more snipers. Alec just gaped; Max reflected with some wry humour that she'd never seen him look that stupid before. She went to look at the body of her brother.

He was splayed out in the street, *what an undignified way for a soldier to die* she thought *taken from the back* she ran her fingers lovingly through his hair thinking about all the times in Manticore when her older brother protected her. Zane had been one of the select few Zack trusted to take care of the others, she just reminisced- the search and destroy lessons, nights when she didn't need sleep and was bored, the talks she'd had with him… then Max noticed something, he was still bleeding. Dead men don't bleed, she quickly checked his pulse and got a very faint beat. He was alive.

She turned to where she knew Dix had placed a camera and quickly signaled into it that she needed assistance, she hoped someone was watching. Then she just crouched beside her brother and waited

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	3. Adjustments

   Chapter 3- Adjustments

Max paced outside the operating room. She snorted derisively at that, 'operating room'; ha they hadn't even been under siege for more than a month. They'd had no time to set up serious medical facilities, and the 'medical faculty's' experience was limited, as in self-taught or simple encounters. She sat on a rickety wooden chair and began to rock back and forth, praying. 

"God, if you're up there please hear me out. I know I asked for a miracle once, and I think I got it but please please give me another one. I know I don't deserve it, but he doesn't deserve to die. Please, I don't even know my brother, what he's been up to. Don't show him to me then take him away, I want him here, I need him here, please God grant me my miracle." Max let a lone tear escape through her tightly shut eyes.

Alec had just stepped out of the operating room and heard every word, he was torn between going over to comfort her and getting away while she was still preoccupied so that she wouldn't notice him. He heard her other siblings coming down the hallway and decided against comforting her, he ducked into the next room to wash off his bloodied hands. 

Max looked up at the sound of Krit's voice, he walked in with Jondy and Syl. They didn't say anything, they just came to stand beside her, Jondy squeezed her hand and gave a quick reassuring smile.

Vamp, a 'nomily with extremely pointy teeth stepped out of the operating room. The others that had been helping with the procedure slowly filtered out. She looked at the little group huddled together and smiled, it gave a rather eerie effect. "He's going to be alright, it was amazing those stem cells sure worked fast and he clotted quickly too so minimum blood loss and minimum damage. He was very lucky, it just barely missed his heart and lungs but the bullet was lodged in a very tricky spot, hard to get out; Alec here" Alec had just stepped out of the room, all traces of his previous activities erased, he caught the last part and quickly made motions to get Vamp to not mention him, stilling when the others looked at him. Vamp cleared her throat "Alec was a really good sport, he cheered us on. The bullet in his arm went right through, so we had to cauterise, but like I said he's healing fine".  

Jondy smiled, "They were very pleased with his chemical structuring in Manticore, his stem cells operated particularly fast, his blood clotted over, his white blood cells were stronger and produced more antibodies; Zane never came down with anything" 

"Can we see him?" Max piped up.

"Sure" Vamp replied, "but he's under heavy sedative right now, one that even your X-5 systems will have a hard time purging, so I wouldn't count on him waking up any time soon"

"That's okay, we just want to see him"

They all crowded into the room, Zane was fast asleep, his breathing even and regular. Max grabbed a seat from the side and placed it next to his bed. The others remained standing, Syl placed a quick kiss on Zane's forehead and then walked out, everybody followed suit until only Max was left. She wanted to be alone with him. "If you're up there, and responsible for this then thank you" she whispered.

***************************

 _The next morning_

  Alec stepped into the room, Max was exactly where he left her in the chair; her head was resting on Zane's stomach and she was fast asleep, her eyes moving under their lids as she dreamed. She looked untroubled, carefree as she slept a soft smile curving her lips, suddenly she moved in her sleep and mumbled a name. *Probably Logan* Alec thought disgustedly, he moved closer to wake her up. Just as he reached her, she repeated the name "Alec", he froze. Then he smiled, so it was his name she was calling; he wondered what she was dreaming about *Doesn't make a difference, she'll just go back to hating me when she wakes up* Alec sighed. Still it was nice to know that he wasn't always the devil to her. 

  Gently, he shook her awake. Max rudely awakened from her dream, moaned "Go away" and went back to her soft cushion, a rather unusually shaped soft cushion. "Ahh!" Max yelled, then she remembered "Zane?". He continued his sleeping but he apparently his sub-conscience had kicked in because he put his arm around Max and mumbled "Go back to sleep Max". She grinned like a delighted child and attempted to do just that, "Uh uh Maxie, no more sleep for you" then she pouted like one. Slowly she pried Zane's fingers off her then followed Alec out the door.

  She must've been in a good mood because she was smiling when she asked him "What now?"

"What can I say Maxie, duty calls. TC wants to see their leader up and running. The one and only, saviour of our world, mighty and unconquered, the Helena of modern day, the great and fearless…" Max punched the smirking Alec before he could complete, scowled at him and stalked towards the command center. "Now that's the Max I know" Alec rubbed his shoulder.

**************************

Max walked into the command center feeling rested and fitful, Syl and the others were just filling in Mole on the firepower the cops and army had placed around the perimeter. Krit looked at her questioningly, "He's all right" she reassured him. She grinned "Remember in Manticore when I couldn't sleep, or Jondy couldn't we used to bug you guys? Zane developed an immunity to our poking and prodding, he used to hug us and tell us to go to sleep. He did that this morning" She really was elated.

She turned to Mole "Henceforth, I want to see any new arrivals. We can't just lock them up"

Then she turned to her siblings "You guys need to be assigned jobs" she said, then it struck her "Did you get any sleep?"

They glanced at each other "Nope" Syl replied.

"Mole, you're in charge of assigning rooms right? Could you organise some for these guys?"

"What am I? The reception? Fine, I'll work on it but this place is becoming more congested by the minute, we're running out of space"

"No problems Mole" Alec butted in "Worse comes to worse, Max can always move in with me and someone else can have her place, it's big enough for four. Besides she won't mind, will you Maxie?" he winked at her.

Max looked at him like he was a rabid dog "What're you insane?? Why would I move in with you?"

Alec pouted and put his hands over his heart in mock hurt "Aww, you're breaking my heart"

She raised her eyebrows and smirked "Good" she walked past him brushing against her shoulder.

Jondy and Syl exchanged meaningful glances "Notice she didn't say no" Jondy chewed her lip thoughtfully then looked at Syl "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

Syl grinned mischievously "Let's do it"

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	4. Matchmaking

Chapter 4- Matchmaking

"Alright" Alec called out in a clear voice 'I want you to pair off and practice the moves I just showed you, and no slacking off. I'll be walking around and correcting your methods."

  The people in TC had felt that it was high time that some sort of formal training took place. So they took over an old gym and cleaned it up, at first some X-5s were in charge of the training but they got nowhere, the others in the X series felt that the 'officers' were of too low a note and did not listen to them. The general populace of TC appealed Alec to take over. He had been a high ranking officer, he took over, glad for a distraction. The officers knew and respected him, they were willing to follow his orders, some still had problems trusting Max. They had been trained to think of her as a traitor. It wasn't easy to just get over all the brainwashing, the torture and the memories.    

  Alec walked around the various mats, observing each pair as they sparred, correcting their methods. It had been three days since Zane got shot; Max had gone back to her daily duties approving rations and overlooking proceedings. She was also trying to see what she could do about setting up a store and some sort of medical facility not to mention organising recon missions for future raids. Just then, the object of his thoughts walked in looking rather confused.

"Maxie!" he called cheerfully 

"Alec, what the hell is going on?"

"We're training of course. Why don't you come over here and give us a demonstration?"

"What? Alec I'm not going to…yikes!" she yelped. She'd stepped onto a mat to go over to him; he had just walked over and knocked her feet out beneath her.

"Really swept you off your feet there huh?" he asked, smirking.

Max growled savagely and swept her feet under his; he lost his balance and fell. "Now who's doing the sweeping?"

"Maaax, I didn't know you aspired to be a maid" He jumped up, a feral and playful gleam in his eyes.

"How bad could it be, I _will_ be sweeping the floor with you after all" she dealt him a vicious uppercut.

He blocked her and responded with a jab to the ribs "Both of us? Together? That's sweet Max but I don't think it'll work" 

The gleam in her eyes was equally as feral; she twisted away narrowly avoiding the jab. He still had a hold on her arm from her last punch, she used her left arm to punch him but he blocked her, now he held both arms. She banged her head against his causing him to momentarily loosen his grip and allowing her to escape his grasp. They circled each other, evaluating the opponent, waiting for an opening.

_On the sidelines_

Syl and Jondy watched the match with considerable amusement. "So how do you think we should do it?"

"I don't know" Syl said, frustrated "They're such stubborn oxes".

Krit walked up to them "So who do you think is going to win? I've got tibs on Alec myself"

"You're betting?" Jondy asked incredulously "Men!" the girls chorused.

"What?" he asked defensively.

"Fine" Jondy said "5 bucks says Alec loses"

"C'mon, he's got 10 years of training on her"

"And she has 10 years of mean streets; I'd say they're evenly matched" Syl put in.

"It's your money" said Krit, putting his hands up in surrender. He looked from one sister to the other, they had been exchanging looks all throughout the time that Alec and Max were fighting. "Okay, what's going on?"

"Whatever do you mean?" Jondy asked, they both seemed to have developed an avid interest in the floor.

"Dee…" he said warningly, that was Jondy's nickname they often used to call her that when they were kids. She turned pink and mumbled something.

"What?"

"We're trying to get Max and Alec together" he rocked back on his feet, momentarily shocked.

"And when did you two start playing matchmaker?" Syl glared at him "It's a girl thing, you wouldn't understand"

"Einstein should have made a formula to explain girls instead of wasting his time with meaningless letters" he muttered. Jondy whacked him hard on the head, Krit rolled his eyes and turned back to watch the match.

_Back on the mat_

 Alec wiped his mouth; he had a little blood coming out of the side, Max was smirking at him, he smiled and attacked. He hooked a left then a right, Max blocked both then he feigned left, she anticipated that, what she didn't anticipate was his left hook. He grabbed her in a headlock before she could recover from the blow, she tried to but couldn't escape his iron grip.

She elbowed him in the solar plexus twice, then used one leg to try to kick his legs out from under him, they almost buckled but they held. He moved his position so that it would be hard for her to try again. She had no way out, well desperate times call for desperate measures. Somehow she managed to move his hand enough to take a good bite out of it, he cried out in surprise and let her go. She quickly caught her breath. He came at her again, this time she backflipped, the heels of her boots catching him on the jaw and knocking him back a few steps. An ordinary man would have been knocked out, but he was an X-5, the best, elite. 

She spinned and high kicked him, driving him back even further. Someone yelled "Go Max!" she looked around and suddenly realised that they had collected quite a crowd. She had been so involved in the fight that she had automatically tuned out the whooping and cheering. Max soon payed for her momentary daydreaming, Alec decked her then flipped her over his back so that she landed hard on the mat. She groaned and sat up, glaring at Alec 

"C'mon Max" he taunted "Tired already?" 

She took a fighting stance "You wish, pretty boy"

She charged him, attacking with a flurry of punches- most of which he blocked, none of which seriously glanced him. She decided her method was useless, Alec was beginning to get in blows so she changed her tactics. She backhanded him, then stepped out of reach. He lashed out, she nimbly stepped out of the way. She continued like that for a couple of minutes then charged again, she kicked upwards this time but he caught her leg. She successfully attempted a backflip from her current position, catching Alec at a glancing blow to his jaw yet again.

"That's gonna bruise you know" Alec commented, working his jaw.

"That's the idea"

Max pressed her attack, she punched him in the stomach (that seemed to be her favorite place for the day) and grabbed him in a headlock identical to the one he had used on her moments before. Then he did something shocking. Alec used the dirtiest, most low down, rotten, lousy gimmick to get out of it, it was even worse than when she'd kicked him in the privates. It threw her completely, went against every moral she stood for. It was horrifying. 

He tickled her. 

She burst into uncontrollable laughter "Stop it!!" she gasped between fits. "Alec, you stop this right now!"

He straddled her, pinning down her legs with his own and continued his horrifying brand of torture. Max somehow grabbed a hold of him and rolled them; they tumbled over until Max was on top. She used his own method on him, this time it was Alec that was wracked with fits of laughter. She mercilessly tickled him from her position on top of him.

_On the Sidelines_

"Talk about unresolved sexual tension" Syl muttered, Krit let out a grunted affirmative before he could stop himself. Both girls turned to look at him, it was eerily… female and feline. His eyes widened "No way, you're not roping me into this". Syl slung an arm around his shoulders, as did Jondy from the other side "Aww c'mon bro, you know you want to" Krit gulped, he looked like a cornered animal, then he fled to the other side of the room. Jondy looked at Syl, smirking "We got him" they grinned at each other roguishly.

_On the mat_

Alec finally got a hold of his wits, if only for a second and rolled them yet again. The evil torture continued, Max weakly batted her arms against his chest as she laughed her head off. Suddenly he noticed that the noise of Max's laughter was the only one in the room, he also heard the whirring of motors and quickly looked up. Apparently Logan had just walked in and was staring at the sight of Alec on top of Max tickling her; the other transgenics had hushed up at the sight of him. Alec hurriedly got off Max and cleared his throat "Logan's here to see you Max".

*He has such a deep, sexy voice* Max reflected dreamily from the floor where she was still in a daze from the recent tickling, she shook it off as she registered what Alec had just said *Oh my God, did I just think that? It's the tickling that must be it*. Max scrambled up off the floor and turned to face Logan, brushing herself off. She felt guilty for some odd reason *Why should I feel guilty? I wasn't doing anything wrong* Max thought. 

"Hey" Max shifted uncomfortably

"Hey yourself"

"Is there something you need?"

Logan looked at her strangely "I came to say goodbye" Max just blinked. He sighed and said it slower this time "I'm supposed to leave TC remember?"

Max looked guilt stricken "Oh my God I'm so sorry I forgot! I'll come to see you off" She made as if to follow Logan but abruptly realized that at some point during the fight she had taken off her jacket and shirt, all she had on was a thin cotton vest. No wonder Logan had been looking at them so strangely, she turned pink and quickly looked for her belongings.

"Looking for these Max?" called Alec, waving her jacket and shirt about.

She walked over to him, grabbed them and strode out. "Your welcome" he called after her.

*****************************

Max blew on her hands, rubbed them together them stuffed them in her pockets. "So…"

"So…" Logan said. They smiled at each other nervously

"Guess this is goodbye then" he said

"Guess this is".  They were standing outside the gym in the crisp morning air. 

"Who's guiding you?"

"Oh, Rhian's dropping me off. She's got a recon mission, so she'll get me past any guards and then she'll sneak back in later"

"Yeah, I heard about that. Security's getting lax, shouldn't be too hard"

"I suppose I could crash at Joshua's again. My equipment is still there"

"Sure. That's a good idea. We could keep up a satellite link."

"Yeah. I guess"

"Max" she was looking at the floor "Max look at me" She slowly looked up, a traitorous tear slipped down her cheek. He smiled reassuringly and wiped it away, he traced the contours of her face with one latex covered finger. "I love you Max. Always have, always will"

She looked at him for a couple of seconds, willing the words to come out but they wouldn't. They were choked up inside. "I can't Logan" she looked up at him, her eyes wide and afraid. The realisation that hit her then was profound, complete and shakening "I can't say that"

He looked crestfallen "Maybe not now, but one day you'll…"

"No" she interrupted him "I can't say it because it's not true. There was a time once when I did love you, not so long ago but I don't anymore. I love you as a friend, a dear and cherished friend but it can't ever be anything more. I'm sorry"

"Is it someone else? Is it Alec?" he asked quickly

Max was contrite, she just shook her head in the negative to indicate that there was no-one else "I'm sorry Logan" Then she ran, leaving a stricken Logan to stare after her.

***************************

She just sat on the rooftop whishing it was the Needle staring down as the transgenics went about their various nocturnal activities; she heard a movement behind her. "What do you want?" she asked bitterly. That could only be one person, always that one person; he was always there when she turned around, hovering. She hated him with a fiery passion, but a memory of OC came into her thoughts unbidden *There's a fine line between love and hate boo*. She shook her head to clear it.

"Well it's not what I want, it's what you want."

"Oh really, and what is that?"

"A friend"

"Tell me when you come across some likely candidates"

"C'mon Max"

"I don't need more friends Alec" she said cuttingly "I have mine"

"Yeah, I can see them surrounding you now"

"I have Syl, Krit, Zane and Jondy" 

He came to sit beside her "They're not your friends Max" he corrected, making a fine distinction "They're family"  

"Well maybe that's what I need right now" she moved her hand to shove him away

He caught it and said roughly "You don't know what you need"

"And you do?"

"I'm willing to try to find out"

She looked at him for several moments then she just broke down. She started crying, leaning into Alec. He put his arm around her and made soothing noises "It's okay Maxie, it's okay"

_Max's POV_- Damn him, damn him, damn him. Damn him to hell! He always does this, breaks down my defenses gets into my head. How? I spent ten years on the outside, damnit it took OC three years before she got inside mine. He hasn't even been out a full year but I can't get inside his. He always knows what I want, hell he knows me better than anyone. He acts like a complete jerk but he knows what I want, what I need. None of my siblings have a clue, how could they? We don't exactly see each other everyday. No matter what, he's there he just won't go away.

_Back to normal_- She stopped crying abruptly, but she didn't move from her position. In fact, she surprised him by pushing in closer. She was fast asleep in 5 minutes.

*************************

The next morning Alec's back was sore from sleeping against the wall the whole night, when he woke up she was still asleep. He wanted nothing more than to watch her as she rested but he also wanted to get up and stretch his muscles but in doing so he'd wake her up and he was fearful of incurring her wrath. Slowly he tried to move, Max wrinkled her nose mumbled in protest and followed her cushion. He gave it up for a hopeless cause and waited for someone to find them.

Krit walked in on the pair of them. Alec quickly craned his neck to look at him helplessly, "Get her off me!!" He mouthed pleadingly. Krit just grinned "No can do bro, when Max wants to sleep, Max wants to sleep. She'll massacre the both of us if she gets woken up"

Just then Syl came up "Ooh, isn't that sweet?". Alec glared at her, she winked at him roguishly. "Help me, I'm dying here!" Alec pleaded. "C'mon Krit, breakfast's waiting. Tell Max that we'll save some for her" she dragged Krit off. "I'll get you for this!" Alec called in a fierce whisper. Syl winked at him one last time before climbing down the stairs, Krit just shrugged at him helplessly.

Max snuggled closer and in doing so turned a little so that the sun was shining directly in her face, Alec had the sudden devilish urge to tickle her. He picked up a feather that he had found somewhere on the roof and slowly brushed it under her nose, she wrinkled and twitched it then made a curiously rabbit like gesture by putting a hand up to paw away the offending object. Quickly she woke up, "Go away Alec" she mumbled and burrowed down into her pillow. A warm, denim covered pillow. Wait, denim, warm, Alec, sleep, rooftop, crying. For the second time that week, Max squealed and jumped away from her cushion "Ahh!"

"Well good morning to you too, sunshine" he raised his eyebrows at her. 

"You! You, you…" she sputtered

"Wonderful, handsome, charming, debonair knight?" he tried.

"You evil, person!" she finally got out

"I must say, not your best" he said shaking his head ruefully.

"Humph"  

"Oh right, before I forget. Syl said she'd save some breakfast for you"

Her eyes brightened at the mention of breakfast, she dashed downstairs before he could get in another word.

***************************************************************************************************************************


	5. Fence

Disclaimer- Characters belong to James Cameron and Charles Eglee

A/N- barcode-babe-210, I hope this chapter answers your question. I'm working on Chapter 7 right now, but it's slow going. I'm not focusing on the sibs pairing right now. I might add that in later, I don't know how long this series is going to run on for. Could people just vote (send me a review saying which you prefer) on which pairing is the best K/S, Z/S, J/Z, K/J- be warned I might not necessarily use them, I like the bro/sis relationship at the moment. 

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Chapter 5- Fence

Max had just had a smashing (notice sarcasm) breakfast of cold egg, limp sausage, curdled milk and four trytophan pills. *I think I'm going to puke* she thought *We need supplies, it's not viruses we should be afraid of or those damned militant nutcases, it's the food!! That'll kill us*. She was snapped out of her reverie when Randy came running up to her. 

"Ma'am, ma'am!" he shouted excitedly. Max turned, he stopped and snapped to attention.

"At ease soldier" he complied. Max had long since given up trying to tell people to call her Max; she'd yelled herself hoarse telling them that she was not their CO. They still called her ma'am or referred to her as 452. She sighed "What is it?".

"We've discovered a new contact"

She was immediately suspicious; she expected several attempts to infiltrate TC and had already put an end to many an attempt. "Who? What? Where? When?" 

"Skip Damario ma'am. He's offering to set us up with supplies, including food and medical supplies for a certain price. He's the best, guaranteed service never lets his customers down. He's offered to deliver the goods on a weekly basis right here at TC"

"How do we know he's legit?"

"We've checked him out. He despises the authorities, the feelings mutual. He would never work for them. As far as he's concerned, any enemies of the cops are potential friends of his so he wouldn't turn us in. We also know that the man's only loyalty is to himself and to his biggest customers, that loyalty can be gained if we give him enough money. Business for him isn't exactly booming now, the raised security means that not a lot of people want to risk ordering and since he doesn't do business with cops he's got even less business than the average pimp; we would be his biggest customers, he'd have no incentive to betray us"

"Who did the checking?"

"X5-369 ma'am."

 "Shaile. She isn't head of recon for nothing" Max sighed again.

"How much?"

 "$2 million US" The nervous X-6 cleared his throat "In cash"

She was flabbergasted "2 MILLION!!!!!!!!!!!!????????????? And just where does this nut job expect us to get 2 million US dollars, 'in cash'? If we had that we could've bought an island and lived there in peace!"

"And have been nuked into oblivion before we could say 'bob's yer uncle'" Alec interrupted before she could complete her diatribe. He'd come down from the roof a couple of hours ago and gotten a full report from Dix and Shaile, he overheard the conversation and felt sorry for the poor kid that was on the receiving end of one of Max's famous tongue-lashings. *So do what you always do Alec* came a sarcastic tinny voice from somewhere in his head *Be the lapdog and aim that lashing at yourself* he mentally kicked himself.  

"And I suppose you have two mil stashed somewhere?" she asked sarcastically "Did the great Alec and his even greater scams pay off that much?"

"Have you tried decaf?" he asked looking at her quizzically.

*Ooh, big mistake. Big, big mistake* He wouldn't have thought it possible but Max's gaze became even more heated than it already was, he could swear she had heat vision. He tugged at the collar of his T-shirt, wasn't warm in there or was it just him? Her face practically purpled with rage.

"Alec" she said through clenched teeth "My office. Now" she stormed past him and stomped into her little 'office'. It was just a small room really, it had some old filing cabinets, an old couch with broken springs and a work desk with a lamp. She had been compiling lists and files for all the transgenics at TC and her table was cluttered with papers. Alec's sensitive nose twitched at the musty scent of the room.

She slammed the door, Alec winced in anticipation of an attack, and surprisingly it didn't come. He turned around; Max was sitting on the couch shifting uncomfortably as the springs dug into her. She squirmed under the intensity of his gaze "What?"

"Nothing" he continued to look at her and wondered if this was some new form of torture Max had invented; keep him in agonising suspense and then pounce when he wasn't ready.

"What do you propose we do?" *Oh so that was it. One of Maxie's little denial situations, she knows this guy's our only chance. Funny, didn't take that long for her to snap out of it* 

"What? Do you want to gloat?" Max asked glaring at him. 

Abruptly Alec realized that he was still staring at her, he averted his gaze. "Nah" he grinned cockily at her "I'll save this one for later".

She picked up a dusty cushion from next to her and threw it at him, he ducked. "Now now, there's no need to get violent"

She continued to glower at him. It was his turn to squirm under her gaze. He let out his breath in one great whoosh. "I don't know Max. I think we should take this guy up on his offer. He's good at what he does I'll tell you that"

"And you would know" she sounded the slightest bit skeptical.

"Actually I would. I've had some minor dealing with this guy, made a couple of bucks. I brought him some business, especially when I left the Andy business. Let's leave it at that. Anyway, this guy doesn't come cheap"

"Yes, let's leave it at that" Max thoughtfully chewed on her lower lip "How're we gonna get the money Alec?" she sounded helpless. "It wouldn't matter if we pooled every penny that all of us have, it wouldn't even be a fraction of what we need or rather the problem is, it would _only be a fraction of what we need."_

"Well Maxie" he flopped down beside her and grinned at her roguishly "Looks like we're gonna have to do what we're best at"

Her glare turned suspicious "And that is?"

"Fence" he said simply.

"Just what item do you have in mind that would get us two million?"

Alec pulled a newspaper out from his back pocket and tossed it at her, she caught it "Anubis Jade Fire necklace on display at the Fenworth Museum" she read aloud. She softly whistled "It's beautiful" she whispered in awe. She cleared her throat when she realized that Alec was looking at her with amusement, assessing her reaction.

"We could get a mil and a half for this, easy" she said turning businesslike once more.

He grinned at her impishly "That's what I thought"

****************************

Max poured over the plans, memorizing every twist and turn. Opposite her Alec was doing the same. It was late evening and a quick trip outside earlier had gained them the plans to the Fenworth  Museum, Dix was working on getting them the precise details of the security systems. 

"I propose we move in this way" Max used her finger to show Alec a certain route along the vent shafts in the museum. He shook his head.

"Nah, that wouldn't work. That way's really noisy, there'll be guards right underneath us"

"But we don't make that much noise"

"It's enough. Those cursed shafts are a tight fit, trust me"

She turned suspicious "And exactly how do you know this?"

He suddenly looked uncomfortable "Uhh, lucky guess?" Max was nonplussed "Psychic powers?" he tried again.

"Alec…" she said warningly. 

"Alright" he sighed resignedly. "I pulled the Slough job" she just gaped at him.

After a couple of seconds it stopped being amusing and got unnerving "You know I heard that if you leave your mouth open for that long flies will settle there" her teeth snapped together with a click.

"You, YOU pulled the Slough job?" A month ago a considerably expensive diamond was stolen from Fenworth Museum; it had been an amazingly tricky job. The diamond was owned by Travis Slough, a millionaire, and he had put a lot of money to boost up security so that the diamond wouldn't get stolen. Nevertheless, it was. It was unknown who stole it but he/she had been hailed by cat burglars everywhere. The case baffled the cops; there was no footage of a single living soul stealing anything, no fingerprints, no traces whatsoever. The only proof that they had that the burglar was real was a circular cut in the shaft on the rooftop. 

"What, is that so hard to believe?" he asked, offended.

She eyed him warily "What did you do with the money?"  

"I donated it to charity" he deadpanned.

"Yeah right, I'm thinking what? Hookers and beer"

"Maxie!" he looked hurt, her gaze never wavered. He gulped, he was balking at the task of telling her just what happened to that diamond. "I lost it" he admitted.

"You WHAT????????????" she shrieked

"Someone stole it"

"Please don't tell me you lost a priceless, flawless, humungous diamond because you got ripped off by a PICKPOCKET!!"

"Actually, I thought it was, until…" his face hardened.

"Until?"

"Until it turned up on the black market with Skip Damario's name all over it. That *insert swear word here* stole it, that's kind of when I stopped doing business with him"

"Some honour among thieves" she shook her head ruefully but with amusement, then her expression became cold "He stole from you, and you still want us to trust him?"

He sighed "Look, I know that it might not sound it but he can be a good guy" he was met with skeptical silence. "Well it wasn't like the guy owed me anything"

"What aren't you telling me?"

"I kind of… borrowed something of his. His prized Lamborghini actually" he grinned at the memory of it "Tricked out stereo, bulletproof windows, leather upholstering, tinted windows, videophone, TV screen, amazing engine- silent by the way… I could go on and on. Damn that was a good car. I could see why he loved it"

"No wonder" she muttered.

"Hey, I returned it!" he exclaimed defensively "Albeit  with a few dozen bullet holes, a dent in the bumper and a couple of minor scratches here and there, I don't see what he was so mad about." 

"Damn that was a good car" he said again.

"Alec you stole the guy's car!!! He probably loved it like I love my bike and you wrecked it, you deserved what he did to you. We really could have used the money though, why the hell do you have to be such an idiot?!"

Alec smiled "But you love that about me don't you Maxie?" he asked seductively. He moved towards the couch and put his hands against the wall above Max, leaning in just a little.

Max opened her mouth to respond but Syl suddenly burst in 'Hey sis! We just…" the words died in her throat as she took in the positioning of the other two X-5s she smiled knowingly "I'll come back in 5 minutes" She turned to leave.

"No!" they chorused. Alec quickly drew back, Max tried to burrow down further in the couch. They avoided looking at each other. "Stay" she said.

Jondy, who had walked in with Krit after Syl, and Syl exchanged one of their meaningful glances. They moved to flop down on the couch next to Max, Krit cleared his throat "I'll be outside" he waved his hand in the general direction of the door and began to uncomfortably inch backwards. All three females were looking at him in that knowing way that was so… female. 

"I think I saw Lian down by the jeep, she was repairing it" Jondy said helpfully.

Krit's ears reddened "What makes you think I want to see her?"

"Well, because you…" Max's hand on her mouth quickly shut her up, she mouthed the word 'male'. It took Jondy a second to realize what she meant, "Oh, right" she lit up in recognition "No reason, we'll see you later then. Bye!" Krit dashed out.

It was a well known fact that Krit had a crush on Lian, an old hand at TC. She was a stunningly beautiful blonde X-5 with expressive grey eyes, full pouty lips and the figure of a gymnast. It was just as well known that she had a crush on him; they had started hanging around each other but still maintained that they 'weren't like that'.

"Watcha guys talking about?" Syl asked.

As an answer Max threw the paper onto Syl's lap, the girls whistled in awe at the picture. "Isn't that a bit risky though? This'll be in maximum security" Jondy commented.

Max looked to Alec "You tell them". He hastily filled them in on their predicament. 

They both looked to Max "Go for it"

"That's what we thought too, but it'll be tricky"

Syl shrugged "Since when did that ever stop us?"

"Good point"

Alec cleared his throat "It's a two man job"

"Then you and Max are going" Jondy said firmly. They both immediately stared to voice their protest, each claiming that the other would jeopardize the operation and be a distraction. "No arguments" she said with finality "Now what's the plan to get in?"

Alec and Max glared at each other then pointed at the blueprints and started belting out two very different plans "Whoa, whoa!" Syl exclaimed, then she burst out laughing "Looks like we're gonna have to sort this out". Then they set to work.

***************************************************************************************************************************


	6. Fenworth

Disclaimer- None of the characters belong to me, they are property of James Cameron and Charles Eglee

A/N- The plan of attack is not immediately obvious, so bear with me. The evening party is the social gathering of the 'cultured' members of society for the unveiling of the necklace at Fenworth Museum. I got some ideas from Agent Cody Banks, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark and Charlie's Angels

A/N 2- Thanks to all those that reviewed this is my first DA fic so I'm eager to please. Yes, it was rusty in the beginning I agree but I was just testing the waters. Anyway, I'm sorry I won't be updating for a couple of days. I have a humungous project due plus HW (I have a truly evil math teacher) and I have a presentation that I have no ideas for. So I'm dead, but this should tide you over for a while. Not bad though right? I only posted it three days ago. Pls don't be mad!

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Chapter 6- Fenworth

"You ready?" Max hissed at Alec.

"Yup"

"C'mon then" they quietly sprinted towards Fenworth Museum.

They had been waiting outside Fenworth for the past half hour waiting for the shift change, their muscles had been aching from having to stay still so much. They were dressed all in black, of course; Max in her customary catsuit and Alec in pants and vest. They both had small backpacks with equipment and transceivers in their ears so that they could communicate with Dix at TC. He had hacked into the system and would help by messing with the cameras.

The two transgenics easily jumped the 10 foot fence surrounding the museum and landed softly on the other side.  Two large mastiffs caught their scent and ran up immediately, barking viciously. Max carefully pulled some wrapped up steaks from her bag and laid them down in front of her as a peace offering; the dogs whimpered and approached the raw meat, sniffing it. They snorted their approval and proceeded to dig in; Alec cautiously patted them causing them to whine in pleasure. 

"Damned glad _I_ got feline genes" he muttered. She nodded in agreement. They rapidly scaled the walls until they came to the third floor where they climbed onto a ledge and paused for breath. They deposited their bags on the ledge, Max pulled out a stickable hook and attached it to the wall then hung her bag on it, she then used a piece of string to tie it to a jagged part of the ledge. She looked down at the sound of footsteps "They're coming" she whispered, alarmed. They quickly slid down the drain pipes, by the time the puffing cops had reached the spot where they'd heard the barking Max and Alec were long gone. The dogs had conveniently disposed of any evidence and were back to being fierce now that there was no more food.

************************

_Later that evening in __Fenworth__Museum__, the evening party-_

Alec grabbed a glass of champagne from the passing waiter and moved towards the table laden with scrumptious food. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Max on the other side of the room on a stool being chatted up by some random loser in a bowtie *Whoa did I just think of that guy as a loser?* he was wearing what was obviously an original Armani suit, a diamond Rolex watch, some rings with fat precious gems on them and some nice shiny shoes. Alec took a closer look at him and smiled grimly, the director's son. 

He observed as the young thug leered at Max while she talked to him; she was wearing a black halter dress that ended at about mid-thigh. It clung to her slender frame, showing off her perfect figure and leaving a large part of her back exposed. He stiffened when he saw the guy run his hand up and down her bare back then around her body, finally coming to rest on her thigh. She smiled provocatively and leaned in to whisper in his ear, Alec had a sudden urge to knock the guy's lights out, her hand stealthily slipped into his jacket pocket and pulled out something that she hid in her fist. Then she took off across the dance floor. Alec smiled and proceeded to head over to a lady on a blood-red leather couch on the side of the room "Excuse me" he said in that deep voice of his "But I couldn't help but notice and wonder what such a beautiful woman is doing sitting all by herself and I was wondering if you would bestow upon me the honour of your company" The woman that had been regarding him coldly a minute before and who was easily in her mid-forties, blushed like a little girl. No woman could resist his deadly charm, he could literally see her melt. The lady looked killer in her forest green evening gown, there was no doubt that no matter what her age she still played the game. 

She offered her hand "Pleasure to meet you, my name is Laura Johnson. I'm the chairperson for this museum"

Instead of shaking it, he took it and kissed it pressing her fingers against his palm where he had concealed a soft fingerprinting pad, he looked into her eyes "Pleasure's all mine" he smiled charmingly.  He was about to sit down when there was a sudden commotion on the dance floor, something had happened. He looked concerned "Excuse me a moment" he asked Laura politely and slipped off. Max had walked to the center of the dance floor and had suddenly fainted; a crowd had gathered about her and was muttering softly.

"'Scuse me, excuse me!" Alec pushed through the crowd to get to her; he crouched down beside her and checked her pulse. He opened her eyeballs to check her eyes, checked her forehead and slapped her face gently, he got no reaction. "Alright people" he called "Step back a bit, let's give her some air" they backed away a little. A guard was standing nearby, "You" he called the guy. 

The guard turned around "Is there any place we can keep her?"

"Shouldn't she be taken to a hospital?" someone in the crowd asked

"No, she must've just fainted from exhaustion. She has no fever or injuries, she'll probably wake up an hour from now and be thoroughly embarrassed from having fainted in front of so many people."

"How do you know?" a man asked.

"I've had some experience with these things" he looked back at the guard "So what about it?"

He hesitated for a moment "Follow me" Alec quickly scooped her up in his arms and did as the guard ordered. He was led down a corridor to a closed door, the guard pulled out some keys and opened the door. It was an entertainment room, Alec took in the surround sound system, the TV that spanned the length of the wall, VCR, DVD player, LCD player, in his mind he whistled * So the top floor of Fenworth is her playground huh?* He saw the window on the far side of the room, he set Max down on the plush couch in the center of the room and in so doing noticed the camera set in the wall above him. The guard was at the door and motioned towards him.

"I think I'll stay here, to see if she's alright" The guard nodded and left, he locked the door behind him. Alec heard him whisper "I'll come back in 20 minutes. I have to get back to my watch, can't let the boss find out you're here" The dimwit seemed to have forgotten that the entire place was wired with little cameras.

The guard hurriedly skittered off towards the party, anxious to get back to his post. Alec put a finger to his ear and whispered, unobtrusively hiding his face from the camera, "Dix, we're in"

He heard a faint voice over some static 'Which room?"

"Entertainment room. Good luck"

"Same to you" Dix's voice came back.

******************************

"Max, Max!" a voice called urgently in her transceiver, she grunted to acknowledge it's presence "I've looped the video" her eyes flew open.

"Good" she got off the couch and headed towards the window "How long do we have?"

"About 20 minutes, the guard will be coming to check on you then" 

She climbed onto the ledge outside the window, her bag was attached there. She quickly grabbed it and Alec's then got inside. "Here" she tossed it to him.

The guards watching the security cameras wouldn't see her because the camera was on loop, playing recorded film of Max 'unconscious'. She pulled out a blonde wig and carefully wore it then she pulled her catsuit out of the bag and was about to change when she realized that Alec was watching from his place in the recliner. "Turn around" she ordered.

He looked disappointed "Aww, you take all the fun out of it" but he complied. Then it was his turn, she kept her back to him while he changed into clothes more suited for night-time activities.

She donned her bag and climbed back out onto the ledge. "C'mon" 

They used the drainpipe to climb up to the roof where they quickly sprinted to the ventilation shafts; she slid down the one leading to the second floor but stopped just before she could reach it. She pulled out a collapsible skateboard (something I invented) from her bag and placed it in front of her. It had mirrors along the side of it to deflect the lasers that lined the shaft. She placed her torso on it and pushed herself forward. Behind her Alec was doing the same. She counted out the meters as she moved, when she reached a certain point she stopped and pulled out a laser-cutting device from her bag. She cut a circular hole in the metal and pushed it downward then quickly dropped down into the hallway below. She moved out of the way, allowing Alec to drop down behind her.

She pushed the newly created flap back up and adjusted her hair. She strode down the corridor purposefully, she wasn't worried about being recorded by the many security cameras Dix had looped all of them in this corridor. She came across a door with a sign saying 'Restricted- For Higher Faculty Only'

She motioned toward Alec, he handed her some lock picking instruments. She expertly worked the lock until she heard a little click and the door pushed open. She smiled and turned towards him "Stay here", he nodded. 

She quietly slipped in and was met with a startled guard "What the…" was all he got out before he was swiftly knocked out by a punch from Max. 

"Nighty night" she muttered "C'mon" she hissed to Alec. They moved towards the vault where they encountered another guard, he started at the sight of a beautiful, petite blonde walking up to him. 

"Excuse me" she asked sweetly "But I seem to be lost. I'm looking for the Fire Jade Necklace?" He gaped at her, the last thing he saw was a man's fist as it raced towards his face, then the world went black.

"The dumber they are, the harder they fall" Alec smirked. She gave him a look, "What?" he asked defensively.  

She talked into the transceiver "We're at the vault, show me those digits" It took a 15 digit password to get into the outer part of the vault, but to type in that sequence they needed a top-priority access card that Max had conveniently swiped from the director's son earlier. Apparently the old snooze thought his son to be trustworthy enough. Dix had acquired the numbers from watching the director punch in the numbers earlier that day.

He slowly read them out as Max entered them into the system "8 7 1 2 9 0 0 3 5 2 7 2 1 6 8"      

The system bleeped and a little red flashing sign said "Access Accepted"

She grabbed the card and entered, there were several items kept on pedestals and in glass cases along the walls. This was the outer vault, the director could not go into the inner vault that was strictly for the chairperson, Ms. Laura Johnson. The objects were tempting but Max knew that they didn't have time, the necklace would get them a bigger payoff than all of the items put together. She arrived at the door leading to the inner vault "Did you get it?" she asked Alec.

He looked offended "What do you think? Of course I got it" he pulled out the pad with Johnson's fingerprints on them. He pulled out a piece of synthetic skin from his bag and used a strip of clear plastic to press it against the prints, the skin took the fingerprints shape and form. When he was satisfied with the results he pulled it out and examined his handiwork. Meanwhile Max was typing in yet another 15 digit code that Dix was reading out to her, the system flashed and an automated voice said "Place a finger on the sensory plate and state your name and occupation"

He placed the strip of synthetic skin on the plate and played the recording he had made earlier "My name is Laura Johnson. I'm the chairperson for this museum" the system was keyed to her voiceprint. "Welcome Ms. Johnson" the disembodied voice said and the door swung open.

The pressure sensitive pads that made up the floor lighted up. Dix's voice came faintly through Max's earpiece "'fraid you're on your own from her Max. I was unable to get the code to switch off the stuff there, there aren't any security cameras. Remember, anything stays on for more than 0.5 seconds sets off the alarm"

Max took a deep breath and let it out in a frustrated whoosh, "How the hell did you do this last time?"

He shrugged 'They just had one vault the last time I was here. Must've boosted up security since I swiped the Slough diamond" She glared at him, he smiled at her disarmingly.

She pulled a Charlie's Angel, she did four handsprings in quick succession until she landed beside the pedestal with the necklace where there were no pressure sensitive pads. She snipped the barely noticeable white wire that attached the glass case to an alarm god-knows where. Then she lifted the glass case and almost reverently reached for the priceless necklace when she noticed something odd. The weight of the necklace had caused a little depression in the pedestal, something in her mind clicked. *Damnit, the pedestal is pressure sensitive*

"Alec!"

"Yeah"

"This damned thing is pressure sensitive too, if I take it off then the alarm goes" She heard him swearing.

"How much do you reckon it weighs?"

"400 grams or so I'd say. Why?"

"Ever watched Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark?"

"Sure. What… Oh! Right"

"Precisely. Here" he tossed her a felt pouch, "That should do it"

She hefted the pouch, feeling it's weight. Then she looked at the necklace and mentally counted *3, 2, 1* she quickly snatched the necklace and replaced it with the pouch. No alarms went off, she sighed in relief and handsprang back to the outer vault. "Got it" she grinned triumphantly.

"Max" Dix whispered urgently in her ear "You've got 5 minutes, the guard's coming but he's just been stopped by some enquiring guests"

"They're coming" she snapped at Alec, they quickly raced back to the shaft and climbed up. The guards were still out cold. They rushed back on they're skateboards and had to use suction cups on they're hands to climb out. They rushed to the side and hurriedly clambered down the pipe and into the room. They turned they're backs to each other and changed, stuffing their other clothes into the bags that they stuffed under the couch. She got back to her former place on the couch and Alec resumed his place on the recliner.  

Barely in time. The door quietly opened and in walked none other than Laura Johnson. Dix's voice "Unlooping video… now"

Max sat up and rubbed her eyes noticing the director. "Oh hello" then she looked around "Where am I?"

"You're at Fenworth Museum; you were at this evening's party for the unveiling of the Anubis Jade Fire necklace" her eyes assessed Max "when you fainted"

"Oh my god!" she put a hand on her mouth in a convincing impersonation of surprise and embarrassment and got off the couch "In front of everyone? How embarrassing, it must be all those nights I've been working. I was just exhausted"

Laura smiled thinly, her eyes flicked to Alec "This young man here took care of you. You should thank him"

She turned toward Alec gratefully "Thank you, may I know your name?"

"Rowan. Rowan Slate" 

"Thank you" she said again

"It was nothing really"

The director looked at Max again "So" she said conversationally "You've been out for half an hour" Max nodded "Well I guess you'd better get back to the party then"

"Actually I think I'll go home, I feel a little woozy. Thank you for letting me stay here"

"Your welcome" she continued to trace Max with her hawk-like gaze as the two transgenics left, Alec gave her a private smile as he passed her.

She closed the door behind them and moved to sit on the couch. She gave another one of her thin smiles when she noticed that it was cold. If she had been out for half an hour the couch would be warm. Obviously the girl had been lying. She went to check the window; she found the piece of string outside. She pulled back in and took out her cell phone quickly typing in a sequence 

"Fe'nos'tol, this is Laura" She listened while the person on the other end replied then she said "They did it" her voice sharpened "I want their hides nailed to my wall by tomorrow morning, no excuses"

On the other end of the line Ames White smiled "There will be none. Fe'nos'tol" 

*******************************

_At the party_

"Whew, that was close" Alec said

Max was too busy grinning with the heady feeling of triumph to respond. Suddenly an alarm ripped through the building. "It's OK, everybody calm down" a guard was trying to placate the crowd, just as suddenly as the alarm started it stopped. The people quieted down. "It's a false alarm"

Gradually the crowd returned to doing whatever it is that they were but Alec and Max tensed up. "That was no false alarm" Max hissed, "They must've discovered the pouch and moved it, so the alarm probably went off. We've got to get out off here" Alec nodded in agreement.

They headed towards the lift just as four burly men entered, they recognized the guard that Max had knocked out earlier, he was animatedly and angrily describing something to them. He held his hand up to about Max's height and gestured all the while babbling. Swiftly, Alec grabbed her and moved her so that they were half in an alcove, his arms encircled her waist and he began to kiss her.

She beat he hands against his shoulder, resisting but then she saw the guard and the other men out of the corner of her eye; her hands locked around his neck, she pulled him closer, wrapped a leg around his and kissed him back. The men's eyes barely glanced at them, assessing them to be no threat and continued to the dance floor. 

Once they had passed she shoved him off. He grabbed her arm and headed towards the lift "C'mon" Max took a last look around before she headed after him, and her eyes locked with Logan's. He was sitting at a table with a blonde lady that was talking to someone standing next to her, she turned slightly and Max realized that it was Asha. She saw the look of pain and hurt in his eyes as he sat, frozen in place. He must've come for the unveiling of the necklace. She wanted to go over and explain but she followed Alec's insistent tugging.

Hot tears threatened to fall "I'm sorry" she whispered then ran after Alec.

*****************************

_Basement of __Fenworth__Museum_

"Now which one of these fine cars are we going to borrow tonight?"

Max whacked Alec on the head "Ow!!" he exclaimed in surprise and annoyance "What was that for?"

"For being Alec. Why don't you select one?" She was still brooding about Logan

"Well, I was thinking that that red convertible there would do nicely…"

"Fine, let's hotwire it and get out of here. I want to go home and have a nice long soak in the tub"

"Can I join you?" he received another whack on the head, he rubbed the spot "Max you're going to give me bald spots" he whined

"Good" Max said "Now if you don't mind I'd like to get back to TC"

"But we were so looking forward to your stay" a cold voice rang out across the basement. White stepped out from behind a pillar. 

***************************************************************************************************************************


	7. White

Disclaimer- The characters don't belong to me, they are property of James Cameron and Charles Eglee

A/N- Sorry, I've used some swearing. Actually I'd never use these words in real life, I'm a thorough conservative, I quite surprised myself by using them.

A/N 2- A Kariff is the knife that the familiars use for the test of initiation into the cult- 2x16-Exposure

A/N 3- Thanks to all the reviewers again!! Please review this and tell me if you like the direction this is going in and what's happened. As a warning, I probably won't be updating for a week at least, x'mas hols start then so I can work on the story.

*******************

_Recap-"Good" Max said "Now if you don't mind I'd like to get back to TC"_

_"But we were so looking forward to your stay" a cold voice rang out across the basement. __Ames__ White stepped out from behind a pillar. _

Chapter 7- White

_Basement of __Fenworth__Museum_

Alec swore under his breath. "Sorry to disappoint Ames ol' pal ol' buddy but we were just leaving"

"Well we're just going to have to make you stay then aren't we?"

"We? Now, Ames I don't see anyone else so either you've finally cracked and are hallucinating or you're schizophrenic, either way not happy prospectives"

White pulled out a gun from his holster "Whoa" Alec put his hands up "There's no need for violence. Why don't you and your imaginary friends just let us go and nobody'll get hurt"  

"Sorry. No can do, you're staying. A friend of mine has put in a special request for your hides by tomorrow morning, you're not going to give them to us. We'll just have to take them"

Max was defiant "You and what army?"

"This one" he gave a piercing whistle, three men and two women stepped out behind pillars. 

"Jeez what do you guys do, apparate and disapparate, dissolve in air maybe?" Alec muttered

White smiled and made a cutting motion across his throat. They moved in. Alec recognized the woman that had kicked his butt at Jam Pony (Freak Nation). 

She circled him "I've been waiting for a rematch, no motor-boy here to save you now" 

"And no holes in my body caused by bullets to save you" Suddenly, she pounced. She tried to spin kick him but he caught her leg, she backflipped; Alec wisely let her go and moved out of the way before her feet could hit him, he'd learned his lesson after fighting with Max. She dealt him a swift uppercut that he blocked but she managed to punch him in the stomach, knocking the breath out of him for a moment. He continued to hold her hand and side kicked, it caught her on the side of her head causing her to stagger forward. He elbowed her in the vertebrae hard enough to temporarily paralyze her; she was out of the fight for the moment.

Meanwhile Max was fighting one of the men; so far she was getting the better of him. He had gotten a hold on her and run towards a pillar to ram her against it. She raced up the pillar and somersaulted over his head she landed, turned around and viciously stamped her leg behind his knee joint, dislocating his femur. She slammed his head against the pillar, rendering him unconscious.

Another attacked her from behind; he caught a hold of her waist and lifted her up intending to slam her against the pillar or floor. She squirmed and writhed before finally managing to elbow the guy in his face, she broke his nose. He hurriedly dropped her and wiped the blood off his face, he looked at her murderously

"B***h" She spin kicked him, her boot caught him across his face.

"Oh, like I haven't heard that before. You familiars aren't real innovative huh?"

She dealt out a swift combination- a jab to the liver that made him double over in pain, then a kick to his leg to make him look up followed by a nasty uppercut that knocked him out. She dusted her hands "Two" she saw the familiar Alec had taken down "Scratch that. Three down, three to go" Then it was time to face another.

Alec was panting heavily, he couldn't take much more of this. He was facing Thula and the woman fought like a wild cat. She was the head of the Phalanx, well trained and vicious. She was holding a wicked looking (and I don't mean in the good way for those of you that use the term 'wicked') 6 inch switchblade that gleamed brightly in the dim phosphorent light as she prowled around him. The edges were still wet from his blood, she had managed to get in quite a few little cuts and caused quite a few bruises. He was watching her warily, suddenly she gave a wild cry and charged for him again. He held his ground. She thrust with her knife, he caught her hand and twisted it. The evil witch still managed to keep a hold on it. She had too much control on her wrist to loosen her grip, she had spent too many hours hanging onto those ropes for that (In FN when she holds herself up). She banged her head against his knocked his legs out beneath him. He fell, hard, but quickly jumped up and warily watched as she circled him yet again.

Max smiled in satisfaction as she heard bone pop, she was twisting the third man's arm behind his back as he kneeled. She stooped and then kicked him in the back, he fell forward onto his face but frantically stood up and faced her again, his right arm hanging useless by his side and a maniacal gleam in his eye. 

"Jeez. Don't you guys ever get enough of getting your butts kicked?" she asked with a disgruntled and disgusted look on her face. She heard the clatter of steel and saw a switchblade land near her opponent, in the blink of an eye he had it in his hand. He grinned at her, the blood on his teeth kind of gave it a freaky effect. She shuddered in horror. He charged like an angry bull, she nimbly stepped aside allowing him to pass but caught him in a headlock just as he passed her. She grabbed his flailing hand and banged it against a pillar making him drop the blade. She performed the chokehold counting down the seconds until he fell unconscious, it took slightly longer than usual because he was a familiar. She smiled at her handiwork and turned around to see Alec playing the part of a personal punch bag to… Thula?

Alec winced in pain as she punched him yet again in the stomach, the momentary feeling of triumph he'd felt a moment before for getting her to drop the switchblade had all but vanished. She noticed his apathy

"What's the matter? Tired, or are you worried your little transgenic slut won't make it?" She smiled nastily "You should be"

He didn't rise to the bait, he looked at her with bloodshot eyes "She is not a slut"

Thula laughed coarsely "You're not much fun anymore" she kneed him in the groin. 

Alec groaned. "Not again" he croaked "Women" The excruciating pain in his lower extremities was overwhelming. He had a sudden urge to wallow in self-pity and bawl like a baby *Hmm… I'm becoming more like Max everyday* he thought. Thula used a finger to tip him over, he fell like a dead weight. *This feels too familiar* he let out one more moan from his position on the floor. His vision was hazy and his thinking muddled but he managed to catch a few words that penetrated the fog, Max's voice, he hung on to that.

"Hey" Max's voice rang out clearly in the basement. She strode across the floor. Thula attacked, she ran across and attempted to tackle Max around the waist. Max easily stepped aside and viciously drove her elbow into Thula's back. She had a good idea of her opponent's moves she could still remember the fight at Jam Pony. The humiliation of having her butt kicked by a _human_, genetically superior by normal standards, but nevertheless, _human. Never again. _

"Sorry b****, but that move is copyrighted" Thula was temporarily stunned and on the floor. Max brutally kicked her twice in the stomach causing Thula to jerk upwards. Then she kicked Thula in the legs and whacked her around a bit. Thula finally managed to gain control of her legs again, she stood up staggering. 

Max high kicked her in the chest "That's for me" She spin kicked her in the face, Thula's head snapped back "That's for you being you" then she punched Thula so hard that the pitiful familiar fell unconscious, but just before the world went black she saw Max standing over her and heard "And that's for Alec" 

Max was contented, she was just about to turn around and help Alec when she felt a stiff object pressed against her windpipe, cutting off her air supply. She flailed, tying to disable her opponent but to no avail. She began to see spots, her vision was flickering. Then unexpectedly the choking sensation was gone, she coughed and gasped trying to catch her breath and hastily turned around. She saw the female familiar that Alec had temporarily paralysed before (the one that kicked his butt at Jam Pony) sprawled out on the floor and a staggering Alec with a car jack in his hand. 

"Hey Maxie" he smiled at her weakly then he fell to the floor himself, unable to keep conscious any longer. 

**clap clap clap**Max whirled towards where the sound was coming from and saw White walking towards her with mock benevolence in his face and pure malice in his eyes.

"Impressive work 452, but unfortunately not good enough" he snapped his fingers twice and five more familiars appeared (not literally) behind him. 

She screamed in anger and charged towards them but realized that she was straining against an invisible barrier then she felt a floating sensation as her feet were lifted from the floor. She could see one of the new familiars' faces scrunched up in concentration *Damn it, he must be one of those specifically breeded loonies that can make stuff fly around the room* she gulped *like people* She desperately tried to resist the force as she flew through the air, her head connected with concrete. She fell into a deep slumber.

************************

She woke up in a dark, dank cell with a throbbing headache. She looked around and made out a figure slouched in the corner. The figure stirred, she saw a pair of bleary eyes staring at her.

"Hey Maxie" Alec said weakly. 

"Are you alright?" she asked

"I'm always alright"

"Don't give me that crap. What did they do to you?"

He shifted slightly on the hard floor and winced in pain, he groaned before he could stifle it. Max was next to him in an instant. She felt his forehead, "You're burning up"

"Great"

She looked him over, he looked extremely battered she noticed a dark patch on his head, she put a hand there and some of the blood rubbed off. He winced at her touch "How does it look? Cause it hurts like hell and I think me brain cells are having a war in my head, it feels like it's going to explode" he put a hand on her knee to steady himself as the dark room spinned around him.   

She quickly let go of him and said brusquely "It doesn't look that bad. You should be over it soon" she retreated to the creaky bunk (think Designate This, Manticore cell). 

"You know Max, for a second there I actually thought you cared" he said bitterly, he laughed shortly "Hell there have been so many seconds when I thought you cared" he said softly. He felt just the slightest bit delirious.

She turned around to face him "Of course I care"

"Well you have a funny way of showing it"

She was losing patience "Listen Alec. I don't have time to mollycoddle you, maybe they did that at Manticore I wouldn't know. After all I wasn't there to suffer all the things you did; _I've_ never done any solo missions" 

"What is it exactly that you want from me Max?" he sounded tired, defeated.

"What is it you want from _me, Alec?" she asked angrily, her eyes flashing._

"I'll tell you what I want Max" his voice rising as a fire ignited in his eyes "I want you to start treating me like a human, not some kind of venting post. I want you to start thinking of me as a human, not some kind of criminal that needs saving. I'm not"

She opened her mouth to respond but he advanced, fixing her with an unblinking stare. She moved back a step

"You're right, you weren't there and about the solo missions, you don't know a thing about them. The things they'd make us do, it comes back to you if you're not re-indoctrinated again. I've been trying to justify all those things that I've done to myself but I can't. I can't justify Rachel, can't desecrate her memory by just forgetting. I feel that I need to make up for all of my past indiscriminations and I've been trying since the day you saved my butt from White; but it's never enough for you is it Max? All you can see when you look at me is the man that murdered in cold blood, Manticore. You can't see me" he bellowed the last part. He had her backed almost against the wall, she sat down on the bunk. 

She looked down at the floor "You're wrong"

"Am I, really?" he asked sarcastically.

"Yes" she said firmly, she looked straight into his eyes. The fierce intensity there made her hold her breath. He sat down next to her, very close.

"Then prove it" he was barely audible.

Their lips inched imperceptibly closer. The door opened, both transgenics jerked back wincing at the bright light that flooded into the tiny cell. The figure of Otto was silhouetted in the doorframe. 

"Come with me Max" he said.

"Like hell" she snarled.

"We could always go the hard way"

"Sure, why the hell not"

He made a motion with his hands, she made out at least four familiars blocking the light and was smart enough to realize that there were probably more. Besides, Alec was in no condition to fight.

"What are you going to do with me?"

He shrugged; the man had the nerve to look sympathetic "Sir wants to see you, he didn't tell me why"

She clenched her teeth "Fine" she stalked out leaving an anxious Alec behind. He knew he couldn't stop her, there was no point. He just watched her walk into the light. The corroded door creaked shut.

**************************** 

"Got to hell!" Max's scream echoed in the tiny, poorly ventilated room. 

"I hope you realise" White said conversationally trailing a kariff down her arm, she watched panting heavily, Beads of sweat trickled down the sides of her face, continuing their course to the hollow of her throat and lazing downwards. "That you could make this a lot easier on yourself and just tell me where my son is"

"Kiss my transgenic ass" she bit at him. He smiled and twisted the tip of the knife in her skin, Max let out a strangled cry.

"You know 452, you're very beautiful" he put two cold fingers to her cheek "It's a pity you're not human, you would have made a good mate" His hand drew back and then cracked across her face, drawing blood.

"Now, let's try this again" White advanced on her once again but before he could resume his painful torture his cell phone trilled. "What now?" he muttered, he quickly snatched up the phone and flicked it open "This is White"

Max vaguely heard a voice on the other end respond. White replied "Fe'nos tol"  

So, it was another cult loony "Yes. I…" he got cut off

"Can't it wait?" 

"Yes, sir" he sighed and glared murderously at Max "I'll be there right away"

The phone snapped shut, he focused on Max "I'll be seeing you soon 452" he snarled.

He walked to the door and motioned to someone, the four familiars that had escorted her before appeared. "Take her back"

They had to help her up and help her to walk, all winced at having to touch the transgenic. White watched them leave. 

****************************

The door creaked open and the bright light flooded in once more, Alec held a hand up to shield his sensitive eyes from it. The men threw a body in and shut the door once more, he was left with purple afterimages that floated about in his vision.

The inert form on the floor let out a groan "Max? Max is that you"

He rushed to her and gently lifted her, cradling her head in his arms. He noticed her cut lip. "Are you okay?" he held her arm "What the…" Alec could feel deep cuts under his palm, some were still bleeding but the blood flow was stemmed. The warm red substance was on his hand, he brought it back up to push some hair back from her face leaving a smear of blood in the process.

He gently carried her over to the bunk and set her down, she let out a low moan of pain. "Sorry" he whispered.

She nodded but didn't speak. He turned to go get the sheet that was on his bunk so that he could rip it up and use it as a bandage. Max's hand lurched forward to catch his sleeve "Water" she croaked.

"Sorry Maxie, no water"

She let out a little whimper, closed her eyes and rested her head back on the hard pillow. She tried to sit up "We've got to get out of here" he gently pushed her back down

"Shh. Try to get some rest" she nodded in agreement and burrowed down. Alec smiled and moved towards his own bunk. 

Her hand shot out once more and grabbed him "Don't leave me, please?"

He sat on the bunk "Sure" he pushed a sweat soaked strand of hair aside "I'll stay as long as you want"

She pushed back against the wall as much as she could making more space and patted the newly cleared space. He grinned and lay down there. It was a tight fit; he could feel Max pressed up against him, every soft inch of her. He turned around to face her, their faces mere centimeters apart.

"How do we get ourselves into these situations Alec?"

"I don't know, must be my irresistible charm" She attempted to knee him in the groin but a hand on her knee stopped her.

"Aww c'mon Maxie, you have me! And you…" he trailed off when he realized that Max had fallen asleep, her chest rose and fell with even breaths. He kissed her on the forehead "G'night Max" 

*************************************************************************


	8. Évasion

Disclaimer- The characters don't belong to me, they are property of James Cameron and Charles Eglee

A/N- I got the flashback from Dark Angel: Before the Dawn by Max Allan Collins, if you go onto Amazon.com and search for it you'll find a look inside! One and I read the first few pages. 

MirellaM- Thanks. Of course they're together! Wouldn't have it any other way *grin* 

Thanks to anyone else that reviewed. It helps a lot.

A/N 2- I experienced a serious case of writer's block while writing this so forgive me if it doesn't flow. I'm not quite sure how to continue this, but continue it I will. Enjoy!

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Chapter 8- Évasion

_Cell- White's current HQ_

Max sat on her bunk staring into space and slowly but barely rocked back and forth. Alec was sitting opposite her and was busy banging his head against the wall. They both sat in absolute silence, the only sounds to be heard were the incessant dripping of the ceiling leaking, the muffled thumps as Alec continuously banged his head against the wall and the distinct creak of Max's bunk as it protested against her slight movements.

She broke first. "Damnit!! We have to do something to get out of here!!!" she sprang off her bunk and began to pace. 

Alec stopped his banging but merely stared at her blankly, his eyes following her pendulum-like movements. She turned to face him "Well?"

"Well what?" he finally responded "This place might not be an impregnable fortress Max but it's chock full of powerful, murderous, fanatical familiars that are just itching to get their hands on our throats. Escape would be suicide".

"Yeah and I can see how staying here would have its appeal" she snapped

"There's no point in dying"

"There's no point in living"

He got off his own bunk and closed the space between them until they were just 6 inches apart. "And why the hell would you think that?" he asked calmly

"Because there isn't. We're of no use to anyone here. Their going to get something out of us eventually, you don't think they left us here for what? Two days by now I guess, just because they wanted to give us a break, do you? Face the facts Alec, White's gonna come back from whatever stupid mission he's on right now pretty soon and then he'll deal with us. Not so nicely this time. My scars are healing, I have no intention of getting anymore"

"So you're willing to recklessly charge out there and get yourself killed, just because?" 

She faced him defiantly "Yeah, just because"

Alec pretended to process what she just said "So what you're saying" he said slowly "is that you're willing to walk right to your death. To bend over when White asks just so you can get kicked in the butt because you're sick of standing straight and to hell with all the hundreds of transgenics that are depending on you, right? Correct me if I'm wrong"

Max turned pink and hung her head "You're right. I guess not"

Alec put a hand to his ear and pretended that he hadn't heard her "What's that? I don't believe I heard correctly. Did the great and fearless Maxine actually say that I was right? Surely I must be mistaken?"

That made her smile "Shut up pretty boy" she thwacked him on the shoulder. He held his injured arm amiably.

"I guess the bright side is we've had time to recuperate, White probably ordered the familiars and his men to stay away from us. Probably wants to deal with us personally."

"Yeah, but it's still worrying"

"What is?"

"Max this guy's been after you for a number of reasons, you captured his son, you're the bane of his rock band, they're his orders, you have no junk DNA and would make a wonderful gift to all the scalpel-happy geeks back at whatever base they have that's dissecting every transgenic that comes their way. You've got to wonder, what was so important that he abandoned us for?"

***********************

_Junkyard_

"Fe nos'tol" White scanned the area as he talked. His cell phone flashed in the sunlight. He was standing between piles of junk at the junkyard.

"Yes, of course. I'll tell her" he snapped the cell phone shut and kicked the nearest object, a box labeled Keveral, it kicked up a lot of dust that settled on his suit. He started swearing.

"You know, the chimneysweep look doesn't become you" a stunning blonde stepped out from behind a pile of garbage. She had a tattoo on the back of her right hand, it was the Chinese symbol for peace.

"X5-438" he growled

"How nice of you to remember my designation. Nice job by the way, somehow I doubted you could do it"

"It was easy" he snarled

She turned businesslike "I gave you the dynamic duo. Now where's my money?"

He looked at her then pulled out his phone and keyed in some numbers "This is White, do it"

The nameless woman pulled out some kind of monitoring device, a rectangular screen with handles at the side. She smiled in satisfaction as she watched the numbers in her bank account increase, abruptly the smile dropped. She grabbed him by the collar "Where's the rest?"

"All in due time. I have another job for you" he calmly pried her hands off his shirt.

She assessed him carefully with expressive grey eyes "What's in it for me?"

"Fifty thousand dollars" he enunciated each word.

She smiled "Must be a big job. What about the rest of this payoff?"

"You'll get all of it after this"

"So what's the job?"

He handed her an envelope, she quickly opened it and saw a disc plus a sheet of paper obviously containing instructions. Transaction complete. She patted him on the shoulder "Until next time!" however before she could move away a blob of goo hit her and she vaguely saw one hit White before she blacked out.

************************* 

_His arms encircled her small waist, pulling her closer; the heat radiated from his body warming her as she was pressed up against him, her scanty clothing allowed her to feel every burning touch. Her arms slipped around his neck and her hands entwined in his hair _

_drawing__ him closer still. His lips softly brushed hers sending tingles down her spine. His hand moved up her bare back causing yet more shivers while his lips wandered, barely grazing her.  _

_The feel of soft velvety skin under his fingertips was killing him. All he wanted to do right then was take her in his arms and blow her away. She moaned as his lips brushed against hers again. He undid the clasp of her dress that was at the back of her neck. It didn't fall because he was pushed up against her so tightly that it was held on. _

_She desperately tugged his shirt off and began to exercise some of her own skills. Their mouths finally met in a breathtaking kiss. The lip lock was sending different sensations tumbling down inside of her, overwhelming her. She couldn't think, she was captured in the moment. So lost in his arms, enraptured by him. _

Max sat up in bed, left with pleasant but vague afterimages of her dream Next to her Alec was similarly started out of his sleep. They had decided to rest on the same bunk again to keep warm. They faced each other.

Alec regained his voice first "Did… um did you…?" he gave up and jumped off the bunk.

"Did I what?" Max asked innocently.

"Did you have the same sort of dream as me?"

"Depends. What were you dreaming?"

"Uh, nothing much. You?"

"I dreamt that, well um, that I was" she lit up "at a restaurant with Logan!"

His expression darkened "Really? And what were you guys talking about?"

"Nothing important really"

"Sure"  

"Wait. Do you hear that?" they could make out vague scuffing noises of soft soled shoes against the concrete floor. She whirled around to face him "There haven't been guards down here in days!" she hissed.

"Wonder what they're here for?"

***********************

"You know Alec, if you weren't such an IDIOT!!! We wouldn't have gotten into this in the first place" the distinctly feminine shriek emanated from behind the barred door.

The familiar looked at his partner in puzzlement. The latter shrugged his shoulder and listened.

"Why are you always picking on me! It was your fault!" this time the yell was definitely male.

"Yeah? How so?"

"If we'd just left when I said we should, we could've gotten out of there!"

"Hey you were the one that was wondering which ca…"

"I really don't care Max!!!!! You're always blaming things on me!! Let's have it out now. You wanna beat me up? Just try"

The definite sounds of fighting floated out to the alarmed pair. They heard a crash as if a chair had just been smashed against a wall. 

"We have to break this up!" the first whispered.

"Stupid transgenics. Just like animals" the partner spat, "Fine come on"

They hurriedly drew back the bolts and unlocked the door, wary of a set up. They saw that the transgenics were indeed duking it out in the middle of the room, one of the bunks had been torn from the wall and was lying on the floor. Shards of splintered wood lay around the room. They were seemingly engaged in fierce combat.

Max gave him a roundhouse kick and a swift uppercut. He staggered under the first blow but blocked the second. The familiars rushed to put an end to it afraid of what White would do to them should the transgenics be harmed. The first got to Alec just as the other got to Max. They dragged the two away from one another, they both struggled trying to continue the fight. Then in sync (no reference to boyband) they shook off the familiars' grips and knocked them out.

They wasted no time getting out of the musty cell. It took a minute to adjust to the bright light. "Max" Alec tapped her shoulder.

"Yeah?" he pointed to a window. She smiled, suddenly sirens started blaring; she saw a faint stir of movement from one of the familiars "Damn it!!!" 

"C'mon. We have to go!" 

"Just one thing" she strode into the cell and kicked the phone out of the familiars hand. It shattered against the wall. She kicked the familiar even harder and knocked him out yet again.

 She ran for the window, Alec at her heels. "We're on the fifth floor"

"You've got to be kidding" they heard footfalls coming from the stairwell below "Do it!"

Max jumped out the window, shattering the glass. The shards showered down around her as she plummeted to the ground, she bent her knees on contact to minimize impact and prevent damage. She moved out of the way, soon Alec landed behind her.

"Move it"

They sprinted towards the twelve foot tall wire fence with barbed wire at the top. A strobe light flashed across the ground. They took cover behind a shed. Alec used military signals to indicate that they split up and go around in different directions then meet up outside the fence.

_A young Zack made signs to split up and indicated that she and Jondy should move out. She shook her head wanting to stay, she didn't understand- wasn't there strength in numbers? Again he indicated that she should leave, Jondy grabbed her and they ran, they reached the fence and scrambled over. She turned back for a moment and saw Zack convulsing on the ground as Tazer darts struck him and red laser dots played over his face._

"Max?"

_Jondy tugged at her nightgown. The lights were still sweeping the compound and they'd be after her soon. They ran. Two snowmobiles came after them. They scampered across the ice, Max felt it crack beneath her then she disappeared under the icy deluge. Jondy turned back "Max!" _

_"Go!"_

_"No we stick together!"_

_"Go, Jondy. I'll find you, just go"_

_She ran. Max desperately scrambled for a purchase on the frozen surface the cold seeping through her bones…_

Max gasped and her eyes opened wide. "Alec I can't do it"

"What?"

"Shhh. I can't. I don't want to lose sight of you. This is like..." she hesitated "back in 09 we split up, so many… died. I don't want to risk that again."

He nodded in understanding. "OK, we're clear. Let's make a break for it"

They sprinted across the open ground making for a clump of trees. They reached and dived for cover just as the light swept across the open ground. They sprinted behind a building as soon as it had passed. They continued like that for a couple of minutes. They were just heading across more exposed territory when the strobe light reversed direction. 

They were caught like deer in headlights. They gave up on the zigzag method and cut across the terrain directly moving from side to side to avoid bullets. The projectiles whistled through the air as they headed for the escaping fugitives. They ripped up the earth around the transgenics' feet, sending up clods of dirt to ruin their nice clothes. Suddenly a bullet tore through Max's leg, she yelled in pain. It was either a brilliant shot or just dumb luck.

"You ok?"

"Yeah" she gritted her teeth and continued to run as best as she could, ignoring the searing pain "I'm fine"

They were almost there. Alec was about to scramble up the fence like the 09ers did.

"Wait!" 

"What?"

She picked up a steel rod and threw it at the fence, there was a sharp sizzling sound as tendrils of electricity consumed the rod. She pointed to the body of a poor unassuming squirrel that had met the unfortunate fate of colliding with the fence.

"Shit. What're we going to do?" He spotted scaffolding and an idea struck him.

"Max" he said excitedly "We can use the scaffolding"

She eyed him like he was insane. He ran over to it and pulled it apart then took up two poles and tossed one to Max. She got it.

"Damn" she groaned.

They vaulted over the fence and ran, Max with a noticeable limp.

***********************

_Junkyard_

 The blonde lady had been waiting for hours, trapped in the car and covered in a sticky gooey material. She sighed in frustration, beside her Ames White was in a similar predicament.

"Somehow I doubt that extra wind from your smart mouth is going to help us get out of this"

She glared at him "No I didn't think so either. Damned Gossamers" she muttered

"What are they?"  
  
"They're from Manticore. Bred for either elimination or retrieval, the goo that they shoot from they mouths is meant to paralyze and this substance that's currently tying us up is spun by them. It's meant to last, takes months to disintegrate"

"Perfect"

 "Oh hello" a man was peering in through the window. He opened the door of the corroded vehicle and quickly cut the bonds tying down the X5. "Eddie does this sometimes"

She stared at him incredulously "You're keeping it as a pet? And you named it?!"

"Sure, why not?"

He cut White's bond as well. He sprang out of the car and pushed the man aside (same one that adopted the Gossamer before in Borrowed Time) he pulled out his trilling hand phone "White"

"You what? Incompetent idiots. I'll be returning soon, everything had better be in order"

The phone snapped shut, he nodded at her and walked away without a second glance. She acknowledged it and walked off in the opposite direction.

*********************

"Here, let me see that" Alec looked at her, concerned.

"It's fine" Max said stubbornly.

"Yeah right. Show me"

Max reluctantly showed him her leg. He carefully examined it and whistled "Crap Max, the bullet went right through. We need to cauterize or it'll become infected"

Her only response was a groan. He pulled out a knife and a lighter.

"You had a knife all this time and you didn't use it?!" she exclaimed.

He looked sheepish "I kind of forgot I had it. Now shh" He ripped off the bottom part of his shirt and stuffed it in her mouth.

"Ready?" she nodded. He heated the blade and plunged it in, cleaning the wound. She struggled with the pain, her body jerking slightly. Her eyes rolled about in their sockets and she perspired, she was biting down hard on the cloth and inadvertently bit her lower lip, drawing blood. 

They were sheltered in a ramshackle old barn, a couple of Klicks away from the road. They'd managed to shake their former captors in pursuit. They had no means of getting back to TC and didn't even know where they were. 

Max relaxed in relief when he finally removed the knife. He ripped up more strips of his shirt and used it as a tourniquet. He removed the gag and smoothed her brow "You ok?" he asked softly.

She nodded weakly "Get some rest" she closed her eyes.

Alec checked the windows, he couldn't see any thing. He sat on a crate, ready to keep watch. He remembered the last time that they had sheltered in a barn. *Every time we shelter in a barn someone has to be cauterized. Maybe we should just avoid them* he smiled wryly.

All of a sudden Max sat up from her makeshift bed of hay. "Alec!"

"What is it?"

"The necklace! We went through all that trouble just to pay off Damario, if we don't find something fast TC'll go under. We can't survive without supplies"

"Relax" he crouched down beside her and hugged her, Max was understandably and hesitantly returned it. Of course, when he pulled away…

"Alec, you perv! You unhooked my bra!" she scrambled to hook it back up.

He grinned at her wickedly from his place on the crate "I've been waiting to do that for a while, besides I wanted to test your reaction. And I already made it up to you"

"You did not, and…" her voice trailed off, he was staring pointedly at her throat. There was a foreign weight there, a cold metallic object. She looked down at the sparkling necklace. The amber burned with a bright flame from within, warming. The jade burned with a darker flame contrasting beautifully with the glinting gold that shined brightly in the few rays of moonlight that managed to penetrate cracks in the wall and unfogged parts of window. She gasped, it was beautiful.

"Alec…" she looked up at the grinning male. She threw a bit of wood at him.

"Hey!"

"You have some nerve. You scared the hell out of me! I thought we'd lost this" she glared at him.

"You know Maxie. You're really cute when you're angry" she smiled catching him off guard.

She twitched her finger, indicating that he come here. For someone that just got shot, she looked pretty seductive. He gulped and complied, once he reached her. She dropped the smile and grabbed him by the throat "Ever do that to me again and I'll mangle you"

He smiled uncertainly "Uh Maxie? That kinda hurts"

She raised her eyebrows and squeezed harder for a second then let him go. He rubbed his throat "Talk about touchy"

"What did you say?"

"Nothing" she smiled a satisfied smile and burrowed down in the hay, getting comfortable. She closed her eyes.

_He was kissing her again. She was pressed up against the wall, and him against her. Their hearts going at a mile a minute, she looked up into his deep hazel eyes…_

Max opened her eyes, woken by sunlight. She tried to wave away the offending beam and then declared it pointless. She was on her side in some hay, in a random barn that they had found. She looked down and noticed a hand draped around her waist, dazed as she was she realized that there was no way that she could have three hands. She picked it up, got up and then dropped it. Alec was fast asleep, his hair was in disarray sticking up everywhere. He smiled as he slept, looking positively angelic. He stirred from his deep slumber as his body felt the body heat of Max left his side. He opened his eyes and peered at her. 

"Admiring the scenery Max?"

She started and blushed "Absolutely not Alec. Now move your butt, we have to get out of here"

"How's the leg?" he rubbed his eyes and yawned then proceeded to stretch, he ended his daily ritual by brushing off hay from his clothes.

"Fine. Now c'mon"

They peered out the door to see if it was all clear then sprinted out and headed for civilization.

*************************

Max knocked out the man talking on the cell phone. "Sorry. I need to borrow that"

She placed a call "Mole, this is Max"

"Max!" the reception was kind of bad "Where are you? What happened?"

"No time now. Apparently we're some miles away from Seattle. We'll be there in no time."

She disconnected and threw the cell phone on the guy, "Thanks"

Alec rode up to her on a bike. She just looked at him "And where's my bike?"

"Aww c'mon Max, we're in the middle of nowhere. We were lucky to find anything that could move faster than a snail. We're just going to have to share"

"Fine" she got on behind him "Let's go"

"No problem" He gunned the engine and zoomed off.

**********************

"Report"

"They escaped sir" Otto said 

White smiled "Good"

*************************************************************************


	9. Bugger

Disclaimer- The characters don't belong to me, they are property of James Cameron and Charles Eglee

A/N- I seem to have a lot of time jumps in this, hope you don't mind. Oh and I just noticed something, my first three chapter names begin with A and 5 & 6 begin with F, curious.

A/N2- This doesn't seem to have much action, it's more abstract. Hope you don't mind anyone that's been reading this for the fight scenes. 

A/N3- I don't know how large Terminal City is, it could be just two or three buildings but let's just assume that a large area around the factories was infected and sealed off.

Merry Christmas!! And for those that are reading late, Belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!!

****************

Chapter 9- Bugger

_A week after they escape- back at TC in Max's office_

"So, did you fence it?"

"Yup" Max looked disappointed, Alec grinned "What's the matter? Wanted to keep it for yourself?"

She smiled "Yeah. Now what're we doing for the rest of the cash?"

"I've already set up some ops. We just need 280 grand more"

"Holy crap, how are we going to get that money?!"

"Relax Max! There plenty of filthy rich, I mean _bad" he grinned at her mischievously, "people to rob"_

Max threw a cushion at him "Max. I hate to break it to you, but that's getting old"

She stuck her tongue out at him and Lian chose that moment to walk in. Max quickly drew in her tongue and looked embarrassed. Alec gloried in the moment, he smirked at her and she glared back.

Lian looked amused "Good morning. Nice to see that you're well Max"

"Thank you, but it's Alec you need to worry about"

"Oh really" she raised an eyebrow "Why is that?"

"He seems to have lost a little more brain since he got back"

"Very funny Maxie" Alec said sarcastically. 

"I thought so too and don't call me that" she replied immediately.

"Why not? The others do"

"The others have prerogative that you don't"

"Well…"

"If you don't mind" Lian interrupted "I'd just like to talk to Max for a moment. Alone" she looked pointedly at the door. 

Alec raised his hands in mock surrender "Alright alright. I can see when I'm not needed." 

"Somehow I doubt that" Max muttered. He stuck his tongue out when Lian had her back turned and left, softly closing the door behind him.

Max looked at Lian curiously "What is it?"

"First things first. How are you?" she looked concerned

"Oh, I'm fine. Don't worry, the leg's healing fast, I'll be fully operational by day after tomorrow"

"Great." She sat down on the edge of the desk, facing Max "It's about Krit" she said hesitantly.

Max smiled knowingly "Yeah?"

"Well you see, I kinda really like him but I don't want to jump into anything. You know? I mean, I've never done anything like this before; it isn't like I had a lot of dating opportunities back at Manticore."

Max nodded in understanding "And you're afraid you'll screw it up from  inexperience"

Lian fidgeted with her hands, her eyes darted around taking in everything. She seemed really nervous "Yeah, that's the basic gist of it. How did you do it, the first time?"

"Go out or sleep with someone?"

Lian blushed and looked down at the floor "Uh, both?"

She grinned "Well look, I've mostly dated jerks and as for the other, heat"

She patted the space beside her, Lian went and plopped down next to Max who put an arm around her. "Look, there's nothing to worry about. Dating a guy is simple if you like each other, you guys have chemistry, you'll get along fine"

"What I'm worried about, even if I do want to jump into a relationship, will he pluck up the courage to ask me out? I know he likes me, I like him too"

"He'd better and if he doesn't, don't worry. His sisters will give him a little nudge. Personally, just between us girls, guys can be pretty dumb. I think you ought to worry more about him screwing up than you" she squeezed Lian's shoulder "But seriously, go for it. See how it turns out, I speak from experience. Dancing around each other isn't going to get you anywhere. You don't want to regret missed opportunities later"

Suddenly there was a commotion outside. Max looked up, concerned. "You wait here, I'll be back. What the hell is going on?" she strode out the door and slammed it behind her.

**********************

"What is it? Oh" Max strode into the command center and found a computer on fire. It took a minute to find the fire extinguisher and it wasn't anywhere near full. The liquid nitrogen wasn't enough to completely put out the fire. Luke threw a bucket of water on it, the flames fizzled and died.

"Well, there goes my bath" he muttered.

"What happened?" Max asked.

"I don't know, I was over there looking up some stuff and that thing just burst into flames without any warning."

"Hmm, oh well. Find out what you can. I don't want all our machines to spontaneously combust"

"You got it Max" Luke said.

"See you" she walked back to her office and found Lian on the couch "So, where were we?"

*********************

_Half an hour later_

There was a knock at the door. "Come in" Max called. She was sitting at her desk looking over some plans. 

"You called, o great one?"

She looked up at Alec. "Ha ha. Yeah, I did call. I want to go over these plans with you"

"Great. Where do we start?"

"You can start by telling me every single object that you plan to have stolen"

"Well first of all there's the Slate Museum, they have a couple of Renaissance pieces up on display and a Rembrandt that I'm sure will sell at a fine price. The Museum of History has some very interesting new pottery collections that will also sell for a handsome price. Then there's…"

He was interrupted by Max "Alec, the Museum of History is a fortress, how are we getting in?"

"Oh, uh I have a guy on the inside that'll help us out."

"And why would he do that? Somehow I don't think it's because he owes you a life-debt"

"Well, actually I offered him a cut"

"You did what?" Max said dangerously, leaning across the desk.

"What?"

"And how big is this cut exactly?"

"About 20%"

"You, you…" she sputtered

"Chill. I didn't exactly give him the right price. That idiot actually thought that I would go through all that trouble for a couple of pieces of cheap pottery. I told him that it was early A.D"

"And they're mid-B.C" she said, shaking her head "Alec, you never fail to surprise"

"Why thank you" he grinned at her cockily "back to the list. There's a 48 carat pure diamond that we're happy to lift off some private collector and sell to another. It turns out that there are a lot of movies that went out of print that are truly valuable in the market today, you know that place that we broke into before? The in-and-out in five minutes job? Well it turns out that they've got a whole lot more than Star Wars. I have buyers lined up for Gone With the Wind, Ben Hur and Shakespeare in Love.  I figure that if there's enough time we can grab some more and just see what they'll sell for."

"All together that's about 185 grand, we need a lot more" she got up and went around the desk, he turned his chair around and she faced him with her back to the door.

"Nope, that's about 210 grand. That diamond and pottery is worth a lot. Besides, rich people with fetishes seem to have gotten richer. Then give it about another 20 grand with the extra movies that we can fence."

"Fine, assuming that that is 230 grand and nothing goes sideways, what do we do about the other 50?"

"Well" Alec said slowly

"What?" she was suspicious

"You might not entirely approve of this Max but you know the sector Foggle Towers is in is pretty rich. I figured, we could pull the biggest scam in the history of petty thievery."

"And what is that?"

"Pickpocket the lot of them"

Max's jaw dropped open "You're kidding"

"Actually, no. Think about it Max. We're quick with our fingers, comes with the feline and human genome combination. We're pretty nimble and dexterous, we can send out maybe ten transgenics and do a quick sweep of it. Then we'll be gone before they notice"

"Even if we do pull this off and rob them, nobody carries that much cash around"

"Ahh Maxie, you're not thinking big enough! Credit cards. If we can have our biggest comp expert, that would be Dix, at the comp already hacked into the American Express system and another at a different credit card company and then another. Just three should be enough, ever since the pulse most credit card companies fell into debt. All we have to do is pick the ones most popular with the wealthy and do some transferring!"

"I don't know. I'm not entirely comfortable with the idea of completely emptying people's accounts, they might have worked hard for it you know. Not everyone's a scumbag, just most."

"Then we'll just skim off the top. Our operatives will pick the pockets, take the cash and call with the credit card number, Dix or whoever will work their magic and voila, at least 40 grand, and that's being pessimistic. What do you think?"

"Fine" then after a moment's hesitation "Good job Alec"

"Thanks" he looked up at her with sincere gratefulness

All of a sudden the door crashed open and Jondy rushed in, soon followed by Syl. She was laughing hard and accidentally (or so it would seem) crashed into Max, sending her tumbling into a startled Alec's lap. She was so shocked that she was rooted to the spot.

"Gee" Jondy turned on them amusedly "I thought you two weren't like that"

"We're not" Max said with dignity and stood up. 

"Oh it's nothing new. It's not like this is the first time she's been in my lap or anything."

"Really?" Syl was curious

"Really. She was a dancer at the strip club Blowfish Tavern for a night once, I was her first customer, and last" he made it sound like there were tons in between

Jondy's eyes went as wide as saucers, she turned on Max "Is that true?"

"No." She smacked Alec on the head

"Ow, hey! What was that for?"

"For being Alec. It wasn't like that. We were there to stake out the place, they had captured an aquatic transgenic and we wanted to get her out. Apparently it was no ladies allowed unless they were working so that was the only way to get in. I was sitting on Alec's lap because we were trying to blend in. I wasn't giving him a lap dance" she said the last part through clenched teeth then turned to glare at Alec.

He grinned at Jondy "I'm just irresistible to her"

He blocked another assault from Max "Whoa. Down girl" He got a punch in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. "Ow! That was uncalled for" 

"That's what you think"

"Well we'll just leave you two lovebirds alone now. Ciao" The girls walked out leaving a fuming Max and a cautious Alec behind.

She took a couple of deep breaths and went back behind her desk. "Okay, now the routes. If we're using the sewer system then there's got to be at least two routes that we have figured out. Hang on a sec"

She reached into a drawer for the sewer plans "Hmm. That's funny" she murmured "All the dust is at the bottom"

"Yeah, it's called gravity"

She looked up at him with an annoyed expression on her face. "That's not what I meant, it's just that the last time I looked the dust covered everything, not just the bottom" she looked back down "Now where… aha!" she pulled out the plans in triumph and a rat came along with it. Max panicked and flung the rat away; it landed on Alec's jacket.

"Hey! Watch it!" the poor rat dug it's claws in and hung on for dear life as Alec jumped about trying to get it to come off. 

Finally he grabbed it by the tail, opened the door and blindly flung it outside. Pandemonium ensued. The furry little creature landed on Mole, who had been passing by. He grabbed it and flung it yet again, the rat landed on some exposed wiring. A frantic Dix scrambled to get it away before it destroyed anything, Luke got the same idea and just as they bent down to get it they banged their heads. As he stood up, Luke banged his head on the table. Both transgenics rubbed their heads in pain, meanwhile the rat was in a frenzy, squeaking and scrambling. Joshua accidentally stumbled on the exposed cable that Dix had been working on and crashed into him. Joshua had him pinned to the floor, poor Dix couldn't breathe with the dead weight on him. The gentle transgenic hurriedly got up, apologizing repeatedly. A transgenic with some elephant genes and some stereotyped girl in her stood on a rickety chair and shrieked when she saw the rat. It was a miracle that the glass didn't break. Her deathly screams did distract an X4 that had been welding something below and a glowing hot shard flew out and landed on a sleeping stray dog that they had found wandering about. The malnourished creature was now unable to leave. When that ember touched him he jumped up with a yelp and ran about trying to get it off. He knocked over the ladder of an X5 that was trying to fix the overhead light, the X5 dropped to the floor unharmed and the ember fell off the dog but the ladder knocked over the first bike that had been stored there and like dominoes all the rest followed. The rat finished gnawing through a wire and escaped from the tangled maze of plastic and copper, Luke tried to grab it but it escaped between his legs. He leaned too far over, lost his balance and crashed into the table. The table crashed into the chair and the poor shrieker fell on a Joshua that had backed away to avoid getting into more trouble. Mole, who had been watching this entire scene with the utmost amusement put a foot down on the rat's tail as it passed and pinned it. The dust that all the chaos had created finally settled and everyone looked at him sheepishly.

Alec and Max were in stitches, laughing so hard that they were crying. They leaned on each other for support and laughed their hearts out. Max had come to see what all the trouble was and what exactly Alec had found so funny. "Well" she finally said, wiping a tear from her eye "That explains the dust"

The pair were still breaking into bursts of laughter when they shut the door behind them. "That was" Max said between gasps "the funniest… thing…ever!"

"Yeah, we really needed that" Alec said, it was nice to see Max so happy.

She straightened "Come on, back to the plans" but she said it with a smile.

*******************

   _Four days later_

"Got the cash?"

"Right here" Alec patted the bag that he was holding.

"Good" Max said. They were waiting at the entrance to the sewers just outside the main building. They had contacted Skip Damario as soon as they got the money, they had also asked for an advance supply of Trytophan as many were in dire need and Mole had pushed for some cigars.

The cover lifted and out came…

"Darren?" Max asked in astonishment, her jaw dropping open. She stared at the man that was emerging from the sewers below. He looked up at the sound of her voice, his eyes opened wide at the sight of her. 

"Max?" He climbed out and stood next to the gaping hole, smiling at her. Alec looked between the two of them curiously. She was still too stunned to speak. Another man climbed up after him.

"Skip" Alec said formally.

"Alec" he returned just as formally.

Max shook herself out of it and turned to Damario. 

"Mr. Damario, nice of you to make it" she offered her hand.

"Please, call me Skip, and you must be Max. You're even more beautiful in person" he bent to kiss her hand. An already flustered Max blushed, very uncharacteristic of her.

"Thank you. Um, let's go inside" They went in and up to Max's office. Darren opted to wait outside.

"Here's the money" Alec tossed the duffel bag at him, he deftly caught it and smiled at the weight. "Aren't you going to count it?"

"No. I think I can trust you" his eyes glinted, that 'you' was aimed at Max. Alec gave him a humorless smile.

Damario sat down in one of the chairs opposite her desk "Now" he said "Down to business. I can have the first load of supplies in on Friday, that okay?"

Max cleared her throat "No offense, but how exactly are you getting these supplies to us?"

He smiled slowly and pulled some plans out of his own bag, "See these tunnels here?" he pointed at the blueprints

"Yeah. They're the sewers, so?"

"Wrong. That is what's under the sewers, I found it in the old National Library. Very curious, quite the lucky break"

Alec was curious "And what are these tunnels exactly?"

"Old subway system. They government shut it down after the Pulse, it was too expensive to maintain. It took up too much power and it cost too much to repair the already rusting trains, but that's not the only thing. They built those subway systems in some catacombs that were already there."

"Catacombs? From where?"

"I'm not entirely sure, I believe an old Native American tribe first connected some natural caves and then the government proofed the place when they were under nuclear bomb threat, I think that that was supposed to be a shelter. Anyway, it's not in use now, it will be very convenient for bringing in your supplies"

She looked at him speculatively "Not bad Skip. I'm already impressed. Now, about those supplies…"

Alec continued "We want to keep it a secret, everyone's been dying for them for ages. It'll be a good surprise"

Skip nodded in understanding "No problem. What do you need?"

"Let's start with the basics; we'll save the extras for later trips. We need

200 500g bottles of Trytophan

500 200g Iodine bottles

100 cylinders of gas, and some rubber tubing

250 bedrolls

Sterno

Weapons- 40 automatic rifles

40 sniper rifles, with good sights 

.35s and .40s, preference Colts and Glocks, approx 100

Cartridges for the rifles, about 80 packs for now

200 packs of bullets

Grenades, as many as you see fit

Minor charges and explosives

C4

Some cigar packs

80 rolls of gauze

Bandages

Matches

4 liters of morphine

Some disinfectant

Several sewing kits

Clothes, cammies (camouflage clothes)

Pants

T-Shirts, just general stuff

50 liters of blood"

Both Alec and Skip, who had been noting all this down, looked up at that last order. Skip raised his eyebrows. Max looked uncomfortable, "Uhh, we kind of have a couple of transgenics with Transylvanian bat in them. They like it as a side beverage" when the guys continued to stare at her she threw her hands up "What? It doesn't have to be human!" Skip returned to the list with a vague smile of amusement on his face.

"Comm equipment

Walkie talkies

One catsuit"

Again the men looked up at her "What?" she glared defensively at Alec "My last one is probably still under that sofa at Fenworth"

"Preserved food, pickles, chips, stuff like that

Meat, ham, salami, sausages, steak

200 kilos of beef, we'll work on one meat per week

Yoghurt, lots of it

70 liters of milk

Leafy stuff, umm celery

Spinach

Cauliflowers

Carrots

Radishes

Beans

Yeast

170 kilos of flour

70 kilos of sugar

And that should do it, wait! I almost forgot, cooking utensils

We're going to need a big stew pot, think witch's cauldron; we don't have time for gourmet

Pots and pans for individual cookers

Sets of plates, bowls, cups and cutlery for say 400 people"

Max finally finished. Alec spoke up "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"What?" Skip and Alec shared a glance

"I thought she was forgetting something"

"So did I" Alec replied "Scotch, Vodka, Tequila, Beer, the works Skip, you know the routine"

"Yup, I do" he closed his note book with a snap.

"Men" Max muttered and was promptly ignored by both specimens of the male species

"What route are you taking?" Alec enquired

"Well, I'll take the vans along this way, and then switch there because that tunnel collapsed, then go around that way. Turn left here, right, left, left, right, then…

*******************

The mysterious blonde lady smiled in malicious pleasure as she watched the screen, she pulled out her cell phone "Bingo"

********************

"Is there a way to get up to the sewers from there?"

"Not quite. I'm working on that right now; I have men down there boring holes. Not to worry, we have covers and you have cameras so there shouldn't be any worries. We'll switch routes each time, just for caution's sake. So, 10 am Friday morning?"

"Sounds good. Nice doing business with you"

"Trust me, the pleasures all mine" he shook hands with Max and briefly clasped hands with Alec as he left.

Darren was outside, Skip briefly nodded to him and began to go down the steps. Max walked on, avoiding looking at him. Darren watched her leave with something in his eyes that Alec couldn't quite identify.

Alec was puzzled when he didn't follow Skip "Umm, what about him?" he indicated the guy.

"Oh, hope you don't mind. He's your newest resident"

"I hate to point this out to you old buddy, but unless he's got our genes this place could kill him"

"Oh, but he does. Now I have to dash, see you" Skip quickly made his exit. Alec slowly turned on Darren.

"So you're one of Max's brothers?"

Darren looked puzzled "No, what do you mean?"

"Well, because when…"

"ALEC!" Max called from the other end of the room.

"What?"

"Tuning duty. Have to sort out this bike mess downstairs, there was a load of damage when they toppled into one another. The jeeps have to be tuned and we've discovered some new vehicles in those warehouses, need to see if they're salvageable"

"Don't I get a say in all this?"

"No, and try to shut up for as long as you can because I have tuning duty with you" Alec brightened; he put his arm around her shoulders as they walked out. Max quickly shoved it off, but not before Darren noticed. She looked back and saw the jealousy there, she turned her eyes away.

**********************

"438, now what is it exactly that you have that I don't already"

"The plan"

"I have the plan too. I'm sorry, but if that is all then I really must get going. I have some real business to do"

"I have visuals" she could hear him hesitate on the other end of the line

"Fine" he snarled "Be at Merv's Mechanical Stores at 8 sharp. Don't be late." He disconnected.

"Not to worry" she smiled "I won't be"

*******************

 _Friday, __2 pm_

"Where the hell is he?" Max paced outside the building, around her many transgenics went about their work. Several were curious about their agitated leaders.

"Maybe he just got held up"

"And maybe he stole the money and is in Hawaii right now sipping on cocktails and sunbathing in a cot with a nice soft cushion under his head"

"You know, that's not a bad idea"

"Don't push me"

"Come on Max. I trust the guy, besides he'd gain a lot more by sticking around than by running. Right now, we're his biggest business"

"Then where is he?"

Alec shrugged his shoulders and Max harrumphed at him in frustration. Suddenly the manhole was pushed open and a dust covered Skip Damario emerged.

"Where have you been?" she pounced on him.

"I have _been_ attacked" he distastefully brushed the soot off his clothes.

"What?"

"I said, I was attacked"

"I thought you said no one knew about those tunnels"

"No one did. You have a mole"

"That's impossible, one of your men must've tipped off whoever attacked you"

"Let's go inside." Max and Alec headed for the office

"No. Is there anywhere else we can talk? Like the roof?"

"Sure" they climbed up to the roof. There was a large dish and antennae up there.

"There's no way it was one of my men"

"Why not?"

"I place security of my customers as a high priority. I take the utmost precautions, the men don't know where, how or to whom they're delivering their goods until it's the day to do it and even then, not until it's time to leave, by then all communications are disallowed. If they contacted anyone I would know and they are swept for wires and bugs everyday. They never know what they're delivering or why, they don't need to. They're just paid to do what they're told to. I never even have the same men on the same job twice. Most don't even really know where they're going, I just give them directions and I'm a very selective employer, everyone under me was handpicked. No, it's not one of mine. It's one of yours"

Max was stumped "There's no way that that could have happened. We didn't tell anyone, not Mole, nor Luke, not Dix or even my siblings."

"I think that whoever it was bugged your office"

Alec had been thinking and said softly "Or us"

"What do you mean?" Max was lost. "Oh no" her eyes lit up in recognition "You don't mean…"

"Yes, I do mean. Max, we don't know how long we were out for. We were completely knocked out, it would have been so easy to just place a bug or two, and we would have no idea"

Skip nodded "I thought so, but you do have a mole"

"Why? The bugs would've been enough"

"When I pointed out the route on the map, do you recall me ever pointing out landmarks or points? Do you think Ames White really has enough men to cover that entire system? He did seem to be expecting us?"

"How do you know about White?" Max was suspicious

"I make it my business to know. That twit is set on harming my biggest assets, I can't allow that. Now, do you want revenge or not? Oh and by the way, the supplies are downstairs if you'd like to take them out"

"How did you…"

"I wasn't joking when I said that I was a cautious man Max. I have charges set at various places around the route that we were taking and I'll have more for the next route. I just collapsed the tunnel and killed the ones on my side. Quite the blast"

"Again, I'm impressed"

He took a bow "I aim to please" he said modestly  

 "I'll bet you do" Alec muttered

"I brought you up here because that dish and those antennae will scramble any sort of bugging device that you have on you. I'd like you to keep them on for now. I have a plan"

"Let me guess, this involves vehicles supposedly loaded with supplies that when hit will turn out to be stuffed with angry transgenics armed to the teeth that will pounce out and crush the bad guys"

"How did you know?"

"I didn't, but that's always the story"

"Ok, so this is what we do…"

************************

"Are we clear on that? You have to be more cautious from now on"

"Yes. I'll look for the mole" Skip sounded exasperated "Can I go now?"

"We have to work out the plan for next week"

"Right. To your office then, I feel slightly better. That air did me some good, if not much. I hate dust"

They headed towards the room, on the way Max told Mole that there were supplies waiting in the tunnels and to unload them. He was obviously surprised but pleased and nodded his head in compliance.

Alec closed the door behind them "The plans are in the bottom drawer."

Max pulled them out, spread the over the table and leant over it. Skip carefully considered the blueprints. "Okay, see those crossing tunnels there? We'll pass that way, then follow on around here, turn left then twist this way and there. We'll meet up with the last route there and follow it for some way then turn here, it's find Transgenic Central from there"  (Hey! I just realized something, the initials for Transgenic Central and Terminal City are the same! Wonder if that's on purpose…I'll shut up now)

"That's fine. When can you bring in this load?"

"In three days, about the same time?"

"Yeah. Now," she pulled out a list from her back pocket "We need

20 kilos of broccoli

200 liters of orange juice

50 kilos of bacon

20 microwaves

Microwave meals

Cheese, assorted 30 kilos

60 kilos of bamboo shoots

30 television sets

30 music systems

4 motorbikes

40 sets of general tools

1000 light bulbs and tube lights

150 study lamps

Some reading material

Spark plugs

Carburetor 

12 pumps

190 cell phones

80 packs of batteries

500 gas masks, I'm not taking any risks

500 flare guns

Silencers, at least 200

80 helmets

Cat burglar equipment, the works

700 liters of petrol

80 liters of diesel

20 funnels

10 liters green paint, camouflage

40 liters of white paint

80 scrubbing cloths

200 bars of soap

Cleaning liquids

80 buckets

40 mops

70 brooms

That's it"

"Great, see you Monday" He headed for the door, but turned back "Almost forgot. I'd like to talk to the head of Recon around here. Do a little co-ordinating, see what I can't find out about your old pal White"

"That would be Shaile. Just ask one of the guys out there, they'll point you to her"

"Thanks"

*******************************

_The next day_

"Alec, what's all this for? Where are we going?" Max was dying of curiosity. Alec had said that he had a surprise for her. He put his hands over her eyes and was slowly guiding her. Eventually they reached their destination.

"Okay. We're here" Alec opened the door, turned on the lights and took his hand off Max's eyes "Voila!"

Her eyes opened wide, "Alec! What…?"

She was standing in a bar, there was soft music playing somewhere. There was a small stage set up at the other end of the room. Tables and chairs were scattered everywhere, a space had been cleared in the middle for dancing. There was a gaping entrance leading to a pool table and several arcade games. There was even a pinball machine. To her right was the bar, there were shelves lined up behind the counter. They were only partly full, old stools were there too, freshly shined. The counter top was made of marble, there were glasses lined up- some crystal, some glass. It was a complete bar, she whirled on Alec, he automatically flinched, wary of an attack. Max was so unpredictable sometimes. 

"Alec, this is great! Just what TC needs right now, some place to get away. How did you do it?" He grinned *She likes it. I guess this earns me brownie points*

"This was a bar before, I just had some extra stuff brought in and had it cleaned up. The alcohol that Skip brought in goes there, there's also some from the previous owners, finely aged. This place was affected by the toxin spills too, so it was vacated. Skip also got a karaoke system and a screen that I put up, and look at this" Alec reached for the panel beside the switch, it had a round dial. Alec turned it all the way around, the lights dimmed until they went off but once the dial reached its original position the lights came on as orange. Max was delighted "That comes in four colors" Alec said "Yellow, orange, red and blue, in that order. We can get laser lights put in eventually"

"Alec, I could kiss you!"

"I wouldn't mind" he smirked. She must have been high on _something, because she got on her tiptoes and gave him a peck on the cheek. _

"Well" he cleared his throat "Looks like you forgot your promise"

She cocked her head at him in askance. He explained "When we first met and you, uh, assaulted me, you said that that was the only physical contact that you and I were gonna have"

Max thought on it and laughed when she realized that most of the contact she had had with him involved hurting him in someway. She shook her head in amusement and smiled at him "I'm sorry Alec"

He put his hand on her forehead "You must be sick. It's either that or… are you on something Max?"

She laughingly shoved his hand away "No. I'm starving, let's get something to eat" 

*********************

_Monday, __11 am_

Max had her arms crossed, she tapped her foot impatiently as she watched the sewer cover. It opened and Skip stepped out looking pleased, Max smiled in anticipation. 

"Well?"

"Mission accomplished"

"Did you get White?"

"No, he wasn't there"

She looked slightly disappointed "How many?"

"Twenty"

"Great. Mia, Rochelle, Buzz, Fil!" she barked. The transgenics stood at attention before her. "Special Delivery"

********************

"It wasn't my fault. I swear I didn't know!"

"I lost twenty men, ignorance is no excuse"

"Hey, it was your intel too"

"You LIVE there, you're _friends_ with them. How the hell could you not know?"

"I'm still gaining trust"

"Well gain fast, I have no use for wastrels such as yourself, not unless you make yourself useful"

The blonde transgenic glared at him "It's going to be harder, now they know that there's a mole"

White grabbed her chin and looked into her stormy grey eyes "I don't care. I'm not paying you to sit around on your genetically engineered butt. You do your job or I'll have someone else do it for you. Now move it, I have business to attend to"

*********************

"Where is your base of operations?" The bound familiar just glared at her. "Answer me!"

"Somehow, I don't think these guys will crack" Alec yawned

"You don't say" Max was just as tired as he was, they had been interrogating the captured familiars for hours and hadn't gotten a peep out of them.

"You're going to have to use other methods of persuasion"

"Oh, you mean torture"

"If you want to call it that, and torture it is but what else do you want us to do. They're not going to talk if we just blow air at them all day, and I don't think tickling will work either."

She regarded the bedraggled familiar distastefully "Are you sure that there's no other way?" Alec shrugged his shoulders. Skip walked in.

"Now, do you want to get those bugs out? I have the equipment; we've already swept the place. Your office was bugged, transmitting visual surveillance, untraceable. What bout you guys?"

They went outside and Skip used his boxlike bug detector on them, it beeped repeatedly. "Perfect. You're both bugged, Max you have one in your ear, arm and neck, Alec same places"

"Get them out."

"No need, I have a deactivating device. Your body will dispose of them." He pulled out a small rectangular object with wires leading to electrodes attached and a large red button in the middle. He attached three of the electrodes where the bugs were located, then he pushed the red button. Max doubled over in pain as electricity raced through her, shorting out the bugs. Then it was Alec's turn, he did the same.

"Now that we've been debugged, let's see what we can't get out of those clams" Alec said.

"I still don't approve of torture"

"You don't think they wouldn't do the same to you?" He was incredulous.

"I agree with him" Skip said thoughtfully "But there is another way"

"What is it?"

"Truth serum. I took the liberty of bringing some along" he pulled out a case from his pocket. It looked like an ordinary cigar carrying case but inside was several clear vials of fluid, one syringe and several needles.

Alec rubbed his hands together "Let's get to work"

******************


	10. Roomies

Disclaimer- The characters don't belong to me, they are property of James Cameron and Charles Eglee

A/N- I seem to have figured out a pattern here, I have writer's block every alternate chapter. I have so many ideas for the future, but I need to connect it all together. This is more of a build up thing, again less action.

A/N2- Sorry I haven't updated for a long time, my cousin was over and he wanted to watch my Smallville eps. He actually got through the 1st season in two days

JG- yeah I know about the mid-BC thing, it amused me too. The thing is, it sounds authentic, besides not many appreciate these 'fine touches'. However, you could see it as mid-known BC, from what we know that would be mid-BC

Lakergirl- explanations for Darren here!

MirellaM- You are welcome

Hanna- As for who the mole is, not telling! 

Starre1- I agree, I think the familiar plotline was totally off course, I mean it was nice for the transgenics to finally have worthy opponents but why bring the mystical in?

*********************

Chapter 10- Roomies

"We should've known better, White wouldn't have told his men much" Max sat at the bar sipping on a cold beer. Alec, who was sitting on her right, had opted for a scotch 'straight up'.

"Well, we already sent men to where they said the headquarters were. Cleared out, but we expected that Max, come on. White isn't that stupid, gotta figure that now he wants to make a clean break of it; cut his losses. I don't think that he'll come after them"

She snorted "He wouldn't come after his own mother"

"True" Alec conceded.

"I don't get it though. When we asked the leader who the mole was, all he said was false peace"

"Truth serum does strange things; the guy was practically in a trance, but we did sort of get a description."

"From a guy that got a glimpse of her beneath a hood? Yeah, that was just a peachy find"

"Well, now we know that it's a she" he pointed out optimistically "And that she is possibly a blond and definitely has grey eyes, 'stormy' to be precise"

"There are so many blondes with gray eyes around here. I think Manticore was playing favorites, I mean please Jondy, Syl, Lian, Sidney, Rose, Zack, you and Ben, CeCe, Eva and there were so many more at Manticore, plenty here. These are just the ones I knew from before. As for the X6s, there's Dalton, Ralph, Fixit. Then of course that sweet X8 kid, Bugler. They're all blonde! Not necessarily with gray eyes but blonde nevertheless, I feel outnumbered" 

Alec laughed. She looked at him with an annoyed expression "What's so funny?"

"Aww, poor Maxie. Being unique is getting to her" he reached his hand out to pat her on the back in mock comfort.

"Shut up" she smacked his hand away but she couldn't help a slight involuntary smile "What do we do with them?"

"Lock 'em up unless of course you put Mole in charge of this and we dig trenches and shoot the lot of them"

"There's no way that we can do that. News, military, government, everyone has their eyes on us 24/7; it wouldn't matter if every single one of those men tried to destroy the world. If we shot them, we wouldn't have a chance"

Darren slid into the seat on the left of her, she stiffened. At the side, a bunch of giggling female X5s sat at a table, they gestured towards Alec. The table included Syl, Jondy and Lian.

"Well, got to go. My adoring fans await" Max ignored him; her eyes were fixed on the glass before her, studiously avoiding eye contact with Darren.

"Hey Max"

"Hey yourself"

"You've been avoiding me"

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, as the omnipresent leader of TC, it seems that every living particle in this godforsaken place has witnessed your presence but me."

"Darren…"

"Don't Max, please. I just want to talk, could you at least try?"

She winced and continued to stare at her glass. "Max?" she whirled around to face him.

"Fine. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"Don't play dumb Darren, why didn't you tell me that you were a transgenic?"

"You mean the way you told me?" She broke eye contact.

"You should have realized, after…" she didn't complete the sentence

"After? Max you weren't there after, you were gone. I didn't know about all that stuff, advanced recombinant DNA wasn't exactly my forte. After a couple of months I couldn't take it anymore, I researched and eventually I found out. I'd never felt that way before, so animalistic, so out of control. I swear if I had known I would have tried to stop, do _something but I didn't know and after I did find out, it was killing me inside, thinking that you were out there somewhere. That you'd put me in your past as one of the many jerks that were so eager to jump into bed with you"_

"I never even suspected" she said incredulously, "You always wore your hair short, but there was never a barcode, not a mark. Unless you got it lasered off every day, which was also impossible, there is no way that that could be. I was with you for entire days before"

It was his turn to break eye contact "I don't have one" he said softly.

"What?!"

"I don't have a barcode Max, never did"

She was obviously blown away by the news, she changed the subject "How did you get out? I didn't think that you were working for Manticore or you would have known and turned me in"

"I wasn't. Never did."

"Then how…?"

"I wasn't created to be a soldier working for Manticore specifically."

"Then what were you created for?"

"To be a bodyguard, and a son" Max was puzzled, he explained "My mother was Elizabeth Renfro. She wasn't married but she wanted to have a kid, a special kid. She was only a junior officer, but her uncle was the Director of Manticore then."

Max interrupted "Sandeman?"

 "Yes. How did you know?"

"Just a hunch"

"Anyway, she managed to convince him to create me, but there was a condition. He couldn't let any soldier go to waste; I was to be trained like the rest. She agreed. Biologically, she is my mother."

"I don't get that; wouldn't it pollute the gene pool? No offense"

"None taken. Yes, it would but they altered some genes. I have the same abilities as any one of you. Her genes weren't nearly as flawed as normal ones though, I don't know why"

"I think I do, I'll explain later. Continue" 

"I was born without a barcode because she wanted me to have a name, like a normal child instead of a number. I was trained with all of the other children, that's how I knew anything about Manticore in the first place, I would talk with them but I was forbidden to tell them who exactly I was. Most nights I'd spend in my own room at her apartment on the Manticore base. After I made some friends, I convinced her to let me stay with them a few times. I was rotated around different units so that no child could ever get close enough to me and no commanding officer would be the wiser, Sandeman would tell them that I was on loan from another unit and he was never questioned. I had no permanent place. My mother was a cold woman; I didn't feel any attachment to her. I was constantly under surveillance, more so than even you because I was the one with the 'most freedom' and 'privileges', I wasn't to be allowed to escape. One day in 2009, sometime in the winter, there was a big emergency. Alarms were going off everywhere, guards were moving about. Vehicles were becoming active and the lights were turned on. My mother went to see what the commotion was about and to lend a hand. I took my chance and ran. It must have been ages before they discovered that I had run; even after she found out she couldn't have put out an alert because I wasn't supposed to be there, according to records I did not exist. I had about two years of freedom, and then I think she got promoted to a senior position. She had the cash and the influence, she sent men out after me. They located and almost captured me, I've been on the run ever since. That's how I landed up in LA; I hooked up with Shard's gang. I felt a little more secure, so I stayed"

 "Then I turned up"

"Yeah. They cornered you in an alley because they were bored and they wanted some sport of the more carnal kind"

"That's a polite way of putting it"

He grinned "I convinced them to let you go, you were just so angry, all attitude. You walked up to me and said…

"Don't even expect a thank you" Max filled in

"Then you walked past and you purposely jostled me. They guys started hooting and one tried to get fresh with you, Fingers I think, you broke his arm"

"Then I asked if anyone else wanted some and they all backed off" Max said, laughing as she remembered. Darren joined in the gaiety.

*******************

At the mostly female populated table, Alec and the girls watched Max and Darren as they talked. He turned back to face the others

"So, what do you think?"

"Old boyfriend" Jondy

"Heat victim" Lian

"Bonk buddy" Syl

"I agree with Jondy"

"Tibs on Syl"

"Lian"

"Lian"

"Okay" Alec said "So that's two for old boyfriend, two for bonk buddy and three for heat victim. Did I get that right?" An ecstasy of bobbing heads "Apparently so, now what do we think of their future relationship?"

"Boyfriend" Syl and Jondy

"Bonk buddy" Lian

"Boyfriend"

"Boyfriend"

"Bonk Buddy" the other three chorused.

"Well then, it's a tie. We'll just have to see how it plays out" he heartily banged his glass down on the table twice.

"And what's your opinion in all of this Alec?"

He looked uncomfortable "Hard to say. Umm, I think I'll just go tune my bike. The timing was a little off today" he made a quick exit.

Jondy turned to Sidney, a blonde X5 "I think he's a bad liar, do you think he's a bad liar?"

"I think he's a bad liar" she agreed

There was a general chorus of murmurs of agreement. "Okay, whose turn is it to get the beer?"

**********************

"What happened Max?"

Her laughter died down, she looked down at the gleaming marble counter, already stained with wet rings made by her glass. "Do you know what it feels like? Being that out of control, so unable to think straight. Feeling like every male that I see belongs in my bed, even the most disgusting pathetic excuses for human beings whose butts I would gladly kick if I was feeling normal. You can't. Maybe you're affected by a female's pheromones but it doesn't happen to you three times a year, you don't wake up in a room in some disreputable motel in bed with a man whose name you don't even know, or at least I hope you don't" Darren smiled wryly "I tried so many things, once I locked myself in the room and threw away the key. I blasted the door open."

He whistled in alarm "I've always felt ashamed of that part of me, always wished that it would go away, always run from it. Every time I go into heat I try to restrain myself, I have a friend that knew my secret. I told her to smack me if I started getting to close to a guy. It helped, but I went out for a ride on my bike to clear my head and I landed up in some guy's apartment. The best part is I had blown off a dinner date with the man that, then I didn't admit to loving. I felt so guilty, so ashamed. I spent hours in the shower just trying to wash away that feeling of grime and dirt, I was squeaky clean but I felt like I had taken a dip in the sewers. That's the way I feel every time I succumb to that animalistic desire, the carnal urge. That's the way I felt after you. I had to go. I knew that Manticore was catching up, but I needed that extra incentive and I took it."

"God, we were just sixteen"

"For Manticore, just sixteen meant nothing" Max's voice was shot straight through with bitterness.

He cleared his throat and looked down at the table uncomfortably "so what happened to him?"

Max looked puzzled, "Who?"

"The guy you said that you were in love with"

"Oh, um that kind of panned out" Then she faced him thoughtfully "You know, I think you were my first real boyfriend"

"And you were my first real girlfriend, so it looks like we're even. Want to go for a walk?"

"Sure, let's get the hell out of here"

********************

Max strode into the command center "Mole, you called?"

"Yeah, you said you wanted to meet new arrivals. We have new arrivals"

"Great. Where are they?"

"Downstairs. Max we barely have any place" 

"I think we can fit a couple in"

"A couple? What about the rest?"

"How many are there?"

"Why don't you see for yourself?" Max clattered down the steps, she was slightly worried. There had never been arrivals of over 4; most had had the sense to split up to keep from being discovered. She had ordered more bedrolls to give the current population of TC something to sleep on instead of the floor. They weren't just fast running out of space, there just flat out was no space. Max had tried to get to the makeshift kitchen the night before and had given up after 5 minutes, the floors were so clogged up that she was afraid that one toe out of line (literally) would wake the whole lot.

She came across the 50 or so 'new arrivals', she stopped and stared. They really had no place for that many arrivals. None of them could be over 12; the youngest must have been about two. Standing and sucking his thumb, the toddler stared at her. She cleared her throat "Hi, my name is Max. Welcome to Terminal City"

A girl stepped forward, smiling wanly. The girl was pale and thin, perhaps about 13 years old, she had a ragged grey blanket draped around her shoulders, she appeared to be the leader "Hi, I'm Faile. I'm an Y-4, from the facility in Nye, Nevada. I know that most of you are from Gillette, Wyoming. When the base there was exposed, they attempted to raze all of their bases. We managed to escape, please can we stay?" the girl looked up at Max with pleading blue eyes.

Max smiled, she bent down and hugged her. "Of course you can stay" she pulled away from Faile and faced the others "All of you can stay" A cheer went up from many of them. "Now come on, let's get you some food"

*******************

"I don't know what she expects me to do, just wave a wand and magically we'll have more space?" Mole grumbled. 

"Relax" Jondy said "We'll put them somewhere"

"You haven't seen them; they're a bunch of kids. Max won't let them sleep on the floor with a bedroll like everyone else. They're going to have to be in apartments"

"Well we'll just clear some people off and double up the ones that do have apartments. They're kids, they take up less space. You can fit five or six in one apartment easy"

Just then Alec walked in "Hey, watcha doing?" 

"Nothing much" Jondy replied "How's it going?"

"Not bad, but I swear I wish I had a larger apartment. I'm living in a broom closet! You can't take girls home to that dump. Last night, I had to…"

Jondy hit him in the chest to get him to shut up "Overshare Alec, by definition too much unnecessary information"

He grinned at her, "Sure" he turned around when he heard his name being called, Sidney was impatiently gesturing to him "Catch ya later" he left.

"So who're we going to double up?" Mole asked, chomping down on his cigar. Jondy's mouth opened to suggest something but it snapped shut, she looked off in the direction that Alec had departed in, an evil (good evil) smile spread over her face "I think I have a starting idea"

********************

_Next Day- In the evening_

Max heard noises coming from her apartment as she walked down the hallway. She distinctly remembered locking it before. She reached the door and tensed before shoving the door open. She stared at the sight before her. Alec was huffing and puffing as he dragged a wardrobe into the second room in her apartment, he stopped when he saw her glaring daggers at him from the doorway.

He grinned at her and let go of the wardrobe "Hey Max!"

She did not smile back, "Alec" her words were clipped and coated with venom "What the _hell_ are you doing in my apartment?"

"Your apartment? No, no Maxie, _our apartment"_

"What?" She couldn't believe her ears.

"Well see, apparently we have a bunch of new kids that you wanted moved into apartments on the first floor preferably, so I got kicked out of my cozy crib all the way up to this godforsaken windswept cold place. I'm just re-decorating."

"I'm supposed to share an apartment with the broken record player that just won't shut up from hell??!!"

He opened his eyes wide innocently "No, just me."

"Very funny" she growled. She stormed into her room and slammed the door behind her loudly. 

Alec winced "Well, that went well!" he muttered.

He heard shuffling coming from Max's room "Could you give me a hand?" he called.

She strode out of her room and turned to glare at him. Alec was stunned, Max was dressed in a black mini skirt with a narrow silver belt and a halter neck with no back, instead there was a criss-cross of strings to hold the edges of the material together. Silver earrings dangled from her ears, a slim silver charm bracelet gently resided on her wrist and a silver ring with a small diamond (fake but very realistic) glinted on her finger. The only makeup that she wore was a coat of lip gloss that complimented her full lips beautifully. Completing her outfit was a pair of jet black boots that came up to mid-calf.

"Whoa, where are you going?" secretly he was eying her from appreciation but he knew that if he let that show, he might not survive the night.

She looked at him like it was the most obvious thing in the world "The TRW dance"

"The what? I'm sorry" 

"Transgenics Rock the World dance? The one and only thing that all transgenics of TC have been slacking off to talk about all day? The thing that Sidney has been so excited about planning for almost a week? Any of this ringing a bell?"

At the mention of Sidney, Alec smacked a hand to his forehead "Oh God, Sidney. That's what she was telling me when I got that call, then Jondy broke the whole moving into your apartment thingamajig and I scrambled. Jeez! If I don't go she'll kill me!"

"Well it's about time you got some retribution from the female population"

Alec muttered "I think you more than make up for that"

Max raised her eyebrows and Alec grinned at her, he mustered all of his charm "Max, how about you give me a hand with this, we can finish fast and we'll both make it on time. What do you say?"

"We'll both be late, I don't want to keep Darren waiting"

"Fashionably late and about Darren, since when have you cared about being so punctual? Come on, be nice"

Max sighed and rolled her eyes "Fine, but you owe me"  

**********************

Darren looked around impatiently, Max still wasn't there. He smiled when he remembered all the times that she had been late. On their first proper date she turned up two hours late just as he was leaving, the first thing she did was sit down and order then started talking to him, she never apologized.

The bar was teeming with transgenics, the party extended outwards outside the bar. There were temporary bars set up outside for those that were partying outside. Max had ordered speakers that they placed at various places around TC for emergencies, 'like a party!' as Sidney pointed out. She had been in a frenzy for the past week, organizing the party as a relief for all the transgenics and an excuse to act crazy and be free. Max and Alec had been only too happy to let her and left her to it. Darren frowned; it was funny how most mentions of Max went with Alec and vice versa. They were together a lot, true they were both in charge of TC but was there no way that they could do it separately?

He spotted Max walking into the bar. A drop-dead gorgeous Max, with Alec. Darren's lifted spirits became dampened at the sight of the two of them walking in together when she was late, she had promised to put off work. She saw him and headed toward him, he grinned. The sight of her captured him; she turned quite a few heads on her way over to him. He vaguely made out Alec headed in the opposite direction.

"Hey Darren"

"Oh, I'm sorry, do I know you? I'm waiting for an attitude-filled tough chic that captured my heart"

She laughed "Darren that is so corny!" she smiled at him "But sweet. Sorry about that whole being late thing, it was Alec's fault"

"What happened?"

"You saw the new arrivals right? Well they were put into the ground floor apartments and one of those was Alec's. Mole decided to kick him up to my apartment"

"What?!"

"I know, I thought that too. The bug, I have to live with him! He convinced me to help him move in so that we wouldn't both be late, fat chance"

Darren shook his head in sympathy, a lively tune started playing. He nodded his head in time to the beat and grabbed Max's hand "C'mon, let's dance"

He dragged a half-protesting half-acquiescent Max to the dance floor that already had several dancers.

*******************

"What does she see in him?" Alec popped a piece of cheese into his mouth and regarded the dancing couple through narrow slits.

"Why? Jealous?" Jondy asked, she slapped him on the arm playfully.

"Nope" he grinned at her "Just wondering. I mean first Logan, now him. I just have to know what she thinks is so hot in the people she drools after"

"Shut up Alec" on his other side Syl whacked him on the head.

"Ow! You're really fond of doing that aren't you?"

"It's becoming a favorite. Now if you'll excuse me, there's a shot of tequila with salt and lime somewhere with my name on it. Not to mention that there are some cute guys sitting next to it. See you." Syl walked off. Sidney came to join them, passing Syl on the way she sat in the newly vacated seat.

She plunked a pitcher of beer down on the table "Refills anyone?"

There was a chorus of 'yes!' She turned to Alec "And where were you?"

He grinned at her charmingly "Setting up a Palace for a queen"

She laughed "Nice try Alec, what were you doing?"

He sighed and placed his hands over his heart in mock hurt "My liege has greatly wounded me"

"Do you want her to wound you in another way?" Sidney looked at him threateningly.

Alec raised his hands placatingly "Okay, okay. I was moving in to Max's apartment, you know arranging things. Bugging Max. Being assaulted, the usual"

She raised her eyebrows "Moving in with _Max, really?"_

"Well it wasn't my idea!" he started muttering under his breath. 

She rolled her eyes, grabbed his arm and yanked him up "Come on, this is no time to be sitting on your laurels. I didn't organize this whole thing for you to drink the night away"

They headed towards the dance floor.

*******************

Max squealed as Darren dipped her. She was having the time of her life. The music was pounding, lights flashing, people chit chatting and screaming. It was a regular club. The song ended and they stopped dancing, she grinned at Darren happily.

"Do you want to go sit down?" he asked as the music started up again.

She laughed "Tired already? Sure"

They went over to where Jondy was sitting with Gem and Shane. She plonked herself down on a seat and Darren followed suit. 

"Hey guys" They nodded in acknowledgment. Jondy grinned and nodded her head in one direction. Max turned to look. She saw Alec dancing with Sidney. He danced, Max had to admit, with a certain grace. She heard the Blue Danube Waltz start playing. Most couples on the dance floor started attempting to waltz, she saw that poor Alec never had a chance. Sidney was leading, something he would never hear the end of. She cocked her head to the side *hmm, he cleans up well*

"Max? Max!" Darren tried to get her attention, she had been watching Alec for two minutes, lost in thought and he was getting slightly worried. It wasn't like her eyes were blankly staring at a certain spot, quite the contrary, they were alive and moving everywhere that Alec and Sidney went. She snapped out of it when she heard Darren.

"Yeah?"

"Just checking if you're still alive" she laughed self-consciously as she realized that she must have been staring at Alec and Sidney for quite a while.

"Come on, I want a drink."

******************

Alec dropped onto his seat; he was exhausted after all that dancing. Sidney was a real slave driver, she hadn't let him sit down for ages. He saw Max walking off in the other direction with Darren. Sidney looked after them "Well, Max is looking particularly hot today don't you think?" she looked back at him and gauged his reaction.

"Uhh, I wouldn't notice." He suddenly looked uncomfortable "Say, up for another dance?"

"Nope. I'm exhausted" she leaned closer to him smiling mischievously, she playfully bit his ear and whispered "But there is this one another thing that I am up for" Alec grinned at her gamely.

***********************

_Later that night- or more accurately the next morning, very very early_

"Mmm" Sidney murmured and turned over in her sleep. Next to her Alec's chest rose and fell with his even breaths, his arm was under his pillow and his eyes roamed in their sockets as he dreamed.

_His arms encircled her small waist, pulling her closer; the heat radiated from his body warming her as she was pressed up against him, her scanty clothing allowed her to feel every burning touch. Her arms slipped around his neck and her hands entwined in his hair, drawing him closer still. His lips softly brushed hers, sending tingles down her spine. His hand moved up her bare back causing yet more shivers while his lips wandered, barely grazing her._

_The feel of soft velvety skin under his fingertips was killing him. All he wanted to do right then was take her in his arms and blow her away. She moaned as his lips brushed against hers again. He undid the clasp of her dress that was at the back of her neck. It didn't fall because he was pushed up against her so tightly that it was held on. _

_She desperately tugged his shirt off. Their mouths finally met in a breathtaking kiss. The lip lock was sending different sensations tumbling down inside of her, overwhelming her. She couldn't think, she was captured in the moment. So lost in his arms, enraptured by him. _

_They stumbled into a room, clumsily fumbling with feet and clothes alike. They were finally on the bed, he looked down lovingly into the eyes of…_

Alec sat up in bed suddenly, sweating half with fear half with shock "Holy crap"

************************************************************************ 

A/N- Do you think the story's still going strong? Or should I wrap it up? Please feel free to push that button down there on the left and tell me what you think!

A/N- Is it possible to sweat from shock? Say a cold sweat maybe.


	11. Specimen Y

Disclaimer- The characters don't belong to me, they are property of James Cameron and Charles Eglee

A/N- I got the owl info at www.owlpages.com

A/N2- I got a bunch of reviews saying that bringing in Darren was a great twist, thanks. I wanted to bring in a character that Max could get close to, 'cause I didn't see how she fell for Logan in the first place, and an ex-boyfriend was the only solution but I had to make him transgenic otherwise she'd never get back with him. Just to lay fears aside, this IS M/A

Barcode Chick- No offense but I'm kind of beginning to get sick of all of the Max-going into-heat-when-only-Alec-is-around fics, I'd rather have Max fall for Alec herself besides I think that Max sleeping with Alec from heat would actually drive her away from him, she has said that she hates seeing heat victims again, it has always been something that she tries to put behind her. So again, sometime in the future I might succumb to Max-heat fics but not now. Again no offense, I just don't want to use that. Thanks for reviewing.

To all who reviewed, thanks a lot. You made me smile and gave me more confidence, I really thought that the story was losing its punch but I've read it over so many times that for me it does seem like crap.

********************

Chapter 11- Specimen Y

"So what can you guys do?" Max sat across Faile, the Y-4, at the side from the gym where two rickety tables and some chairs stood. She hadn't woken that long ago, it was a blessing that she only needed four hours of sleep, else she'd still be in bed, like most of the occupants of TC, or be suffering from a hangover like the _rest_ of the occupants of TC. The kids had been made to go to bed early so she had called on them to see what they could do, she remembered Faile saying that she was Y-4 and needed to know if their abilities could help TC or if the other childrens' abilities could be used. Her face heated up as she remembered walking into Alec's room and finding Sydney in his bed, she had quickly closed her eyes and tried to back out. She bumped into the wall and that woke him up, he had asked if there was something that she wanted and she could swear that there was _amusement in his voice, the nerve of the man! She'd convinced a grudging Alec to get out of bed and come down with her._

"Well the main animal gene that was spliced into us is owl, so our abilities come from there. We also have some feline and equine in the mix but very little, there were bad results from certain mixtures of those genes." Alec yawned behind her.

Max smiled "Well this explains the big intelligent eyes" Faile returned it and continued

"We have a wide range of binocular vision which is seeing an object with both eyes at the same time; our binocular vision is about 40 degrees so we can do the whole cross-eyed thing without getting a major headache. We also have 14 vertebrae, which is twice as many as humans so we can turn our heads 270 degrees instead of just 180 like humans. Owls can only look straight ahead but with the mixture of human genes we can roll and move our eyes more if not as much as humans or even you. We're nocturnal of course and our eyes are better adjusted to the dark but we can see practically as well in the light. Owls have very few cone cells in their eyes, cells that react to color, so they're vision is mostly monochrome but we have many more cone cells, we were specifically engineered that way but our vision is a touch dimmer. We also have a highly developed auditory system, when sounds reach us we can tell the direction it came from by the time difference it takes to reach the next ear, we can detect a left/right time difference of about 0.00003 seconds, 30 millionths of a second. Earlier models had asymmetrical ears to tell if the sound came from higher or lower but that was deemed unnecessary as it would make us conspicuous and we didn't fly so we couldn't use the ability to 'catch our prey' as it were. We are also monogamous, as in stick with one mate for an entire lifetime"  

"Well that's a first" Max glared meaningfully at Alec, the still sleepy and ruffled transgenic looked back at her blearily

"What?" he asked thickly, she rolled her eyes

"Nothing" She turned back to Faile "Let's take this onto the mat" she nodded in acquiescence.

They moved onto the neatly arranged blue mats that still reminded Max uneasily of Manticore. She dropped onto the floor and swept her leg out, trying to topple Faile but she was too quick for that. The light weight girl jumped and landed after Max's leg had passed. Max seemed impressed, they circled each other. She knew better than to go easy on the Y-4, if anything she had to be extra careful as the unit had been active until recently. She had learned not to underestimate kids, she had payed the price once and because of her Zack did too; all because she had trusted that her clone would have a stirring of conscience and that because she was older she had an advantage. Then she attempted a spinning kick but Faile nimbly stepped back, avoiding it. Then it was her turn, with a running start she leapt over Max her hands splayed out, she did a handspring as she hit the ground and wasted no time driving he elbow into Max's back.

She turned around and faced the younger girl, warily watching her. Faile ran at her again and jumped up sailing towards her with her leg pointed out like a spear, karate style. (Think Karate Kid 3 with Hilary Swank doing the praying mantis thing) Max grabbed the leg and Faile fell onto her back. She jumped up into a defensive stance, Max feinted an uppercut and as Faile moved her hands to defend that, she jabbed her in the ribs. Faile backed off from the temporary wound, but still faced Max. She tried to dive and knock down her opponent but Max jumped and landed two feet right of her original spot. Faile stood up yet again and continued the match. It went on like that for about fifteen minutes then Faile tried to punch Max but she easily caught it and flipped the young Y-4 onto her back. She landed hard and didn't get up, she just looked up at Max.

"Wanna take a break?" Faile nodded. Max was surprised that she had given up so soon, this sort of lack of drive would have cost her her life in Manticore. She offered her hand to the younger girl and it was accepted gratefully. They sat back down at the table near which a surprised Alec was leaning against the wall, obviously he was thinking the same as Max.

Faile took a long sip from the glass of water on the table; Max hesitated and then asked "Um, Faile. I'm wondering how did you get by at Manticore?" she blushed when Faile looked at her with those piercing eyes and hurriedly scrambled to apologize but Faile spoke before she could get a word out.

"I" she looked down at the table "I was… considered special"

"What do you mean?" Max exchanged glances with Alec who was leaning forward slightly.

Faile opened her mouth to speak but snapped it shut. She turned slightly and swept her shoulder-length chestnut hair away from her neck. There was no barcode. 

Alec who had been sipping on some milk spat it out, it splattered on the floor. Normally that would have earned him a dirty look from Max but she was otherwise occupied.

"Huh" she sat back in her chair (rather like what Logan did when he saw the runes) as thoughts raced through her mind *Well this isn't the first case, first Darren now Faile.* 

"And why exactly do you not have a barcode?"

Faile looked back down at the table "Well" she said slowly "I was the daughter of a high official but I wasn't allowed to just be that. He wanted a super-child, custom made. They were willing to make me if he was willing to pay but they wouldn't let me have a normal life, they said I needed to be trained they couldn't have hybrids running amok. So I guess part of the time I was with my dad but I spent most of my life with my unit, I was to be handed over to him once I was fifteen because Manticore figured that by then I would have had enough training to stop me from going into genetically-induced killer frenzies that, with my DNA, I shouldn't have been able to have anyway but after the 09 escapees" she glanced at Max apologetically "They were a lot more paranoid when it came to their supersoldiers"

*So they were briefed on Ben and the rest of us too* "Well that's just peachy then, looks like we made history with our little jailbreak. That explains why your stamina isn't up to Manticore standards, the mix between normal DNA and that of the Y-4s must have weakened you so that your abilities were above average and still those of a Y-4 but not up to Manticore standards." Faile nodded. "That's two already. I wonder exactly how many like you, special exceptions, are there. They'd find it hard to fit into society now what with heat sensory mechanism everywhere"

Alec dropped down in the seat next to Max and turned it so that it was facing her, his hand was lingering thoughtfully at his lips and his brow was furrowed, he raised an eyebrow at her "Two already? What exactly don't I know that I should?"

"A lot" Max said curtly

"Really" the intensity of his gaze never dimmed, neither did he blink; he just continued to gaze at Max, with the barest and slightest hint of accusation. Max became uncomfortable, she didn't know why but she felt guilty for not informing him of the existence of these particular types of transgenics, it was thoroughly ridiculous of course. It was Darren's and Faile's story to tell, but still.

 Max squirmed "Darren's one too"

"And when did you find this out?" his voice remained level and his gaze never wavered.

"Pretty soon after he arrived, we were talking and he… well, kinda just told me"

"Then you two love birds just slept together and made out, I'm sorry made up"

Max's head snapped up "Alec!" she'd never been that surprised in her life, not when she realized that 'Sam' was Zack or when she realized that her clone had been the one to overpower her and attempt to hand her over to White and not even when she found out that her brother had been killing people *Actually* Max's subconscious mused *That was more like devastation* Max not so politely told it to shut up. Right then she was too shocked to be angry but somewhere in her brewed righteous rage á la Max.

Faile had wisely decided to slip out, cross-breed and lacking in the physical well-being of a normal transgenic she was but she was perfectly well equipped in the intelligence department. 

Alec who was still in the gym with Max was just as surprised as she was and was doing his best to deal with it himself, he did slightly regain his wits when he saw the surprised look of Max begin to fade and one of wrath begin to emerge. He just as wisely decided to leave before Max really blew her top. By the time Max recovered enough to see straight, Alec was gone. 

*******************

_Alec's POV- Walking down a corridor_

Why the hell did I just say that? Did I mean to? Well of course not, but still I didn't mean to let that slip out. Maybe I'm jealous _but then Alec's ego got the better of him aided by his equally traitorous subconscious No way, I'm not jealous *Then why does it feel like a volcano just erupted inside of you and everything is still a burning mess?* _that _annoying  voice again! I feel like I'm lost in the confusion, but what do I do? I have strange dreams so what? I mean a guy's allowed to have American red-blooded male dreams isn't he? God, what have I gotten myself into?_

*******************

_Max's POV- Sitting at table in gym_

I can't believe he said that. It was completely un-Alec like. I mean the worst he's ever come to being a touchy, bitchy person is when the memories of Rachel resurfaced and he was being tormented by the vengeful father, and all he did then was act broody and tell me to lay off. Okay, so I did _sort of_ have that coming for being such a bitch to him sometimes, all right, most of the time but I don't recall doing anything particularly antagonistic recently. I don't think I warranted that just for dragging him out of bed anyway and why the hell does he care? It isn't any of his business anyway. Question is, what's up with Alec?

******************** 

_Back to normal perspective- next day_

Alec had been avoiding her all day. She only managed to catch glimpses of him as he left whatever room he was in at the sight of her, which was fine with her. As far as Max was concerned, Alec could just hide in shame for what he'd said- to hell with him. Then why did she feel like it was her fault?

"Hey Max" a voice said from behind her. It snapped her out of her reverie, it was very familiar. She whirled around.

"Jace?!" The long lost sister transgenic was grinning at her happily and holding an infant at her side. The chubby baby boy sucked his thumb and looked at her in assessment with sharp blue eyes that contained fire and intelligence. Max flung herself onto Jace and embraced her sister, careful not to injure the boy then she stepped away and just grinned at them.

"Max" she spoke to the boy "Meet your namesake. Max this is Max" the kid smiled suddenly, his entire face lighting up and extended a hand to Max

"Nice to meet you. Mom told me all about you" Max took his hand and shook it, enchanted. She exchanged an amused glance with Jace. 

"How did you guys get here?"

"Well, we were offered to be brought here by this guy, Damario. He had the creds and I figured that is he could find us, what's to say someone else, like the feds, wouldn't find us again? Besides, I wanted to see my siblings" 

Max laughed and shook her head ruefully "Skip".

"So you do know the guy"

"Yes. You could say he's our dealer, he gets us supplies and stuff" she spotted Skip talking to Mole, probably getting the next list of stuff. "Skip!" she called.

Skip Damario turned and looked at Max, she smiled at him gratefully, her glance conveying the wordless thanks. Skip just as silently acknowledged it with a nod and smiled at her then turned back to Mole.

"Come on" Max slapped Jace on the back and began to lead her away "You know, you've picked up the street slang quite fast" Jace smiled and let a squirming Max go and join the young new-arrivals, Y-series. The toddlers and infants were playing cops and robbers, or as the new game was being called, transgenics and the world.

"I took comm. verbal usage" 

"Ahh" she had a certain memory of a cocky young clone that had said the same thing, whilst putting on his shirt, she replayed the scene in her mind...

"Besides, we were trained to adapt to our surroundings pretty fast" Jace's words broke into Max's train of thought, or rather imagery. Max blushed when she realized what she was thinking.

"Let's go to my apartment, we have tons to talk about"

*********************

They walked in to find Alec bent over, setting up the large screen TV and music system. Speakers were already mounted on the wall. The TV was placed on a black TV strand with the music system on the bottom part; on either side of the stand was a large black speaker. From what she could see of the system it had player and recorder facilities, you could either play a tape (there were two slots for that) or a CD.

Jace's eyebrow rose and she looked at Max as if to say 'what's this piece of meat doing in your home?'

"Ahem" Max cleared her throat and Alec stood up quickly narrowly missing banging his head on the wall.

He turned around "Oh, hey Max. Jace?!"

"Alec?!" they embraced.

It was Max's turn to raise her eyebrows "You two know each other?"

"Yup."

"How?"

"He was put in our unit to replace Ben and so were the other clones of the escapees; they wanted that complete unit and the clones had the same abilities. Since we were the originals we were given that much special consideration, our own clones were scattered across other platoons."

"I don't get it, I figured that they wanted to keep _all_ of you guys apart so that you wouldn't bond or anything and attempt another jailbreak."

"They did, but our unit was the elite of the elite. Each of us was bred specifically to be part of that team, each of our abilities complimented another's. Individually, we were valuable but together? We're priceless."

Max whistled "Well, well, looks like mommy Manticore wasn't telling us everything"

"Looks like" Alec said.

Then she sat on the couch and gestured towards the door. "But…" he objected

"No buts, you can talk with Jace later. Beat it" Alec grudgingly left. 

"So, where were you?"

"In California. That place isn't as messed up as Seattle, quite fun actually. Of course, it's hard to enjoy when you're constantly looking over your shoulder."

"I hear ya"

"What about you? Are you and Alec, you know" Jace made a couple gesture with her arms

Max's eyes went wide in horror "No way! He just got moved in with me to make place for some new arrivals."

"Riight" Jace said disbelievingly "So that whole checking him out meant nothing"

"I was not…" Jace's look stopped her and that annoying tinny voice started up *Admit it, you were. Come on woman, there's nothing wrong with it, Alec is cute. Admit it!*

"Fine, maybe a little but he's still a complete jerk" Jace sat back with a triumphant look *Damn it* she could hear the laughter of that tinny voice in her head.

******************

"So why did you name your kid after Max?" Syl sat on the floor in a crop top and shorts and took a bite out of her tub of Ben & Jerry's "Umm, this is good. I was beginning to miss these guys"

Max, sitting opposite her, grinned and attempted to snatch it from her. Syl raised it so that Max had to reach, she toppled and landed on Syl's lap. All four girls collapsed in fits of laughter. It had been Jondy's idea to have a girl's sibling night and since Max's apartment was the largest they had decided to have it there. So Jace, Jondy, Syl and Max were spending Friday night sitting around on the floor, chatting, arguing, swapping stories, giggling and generally behaving like a bunch of tipsy transgenic girls.

"Well" Jace answered between chuckles "Max helped me out of a tight spot, she helped me remember what the meaning of family was" she smiled warmly at Max.

Max smiled back at her "Aww" they hugged. Max snatched Jace's ice cream and took a bite before Jace got it back. "Umm, yummy" she got a whack on the knee from Jace.

"Too bad we don't have any guys" Jondy remarked

Max wrinkled her nose "Why would we need guys?"

"Spin the bottle" Syl and Max looked at each other and burst out laughing. "What?" Jondy looked offended and puzzled, it was quite comical.

"Yeah, that's how you met Tony right?"

Jondy turned pink and shoved a giggling Syl, "Shush!"

"Who's Tony?" Jace was curious

"Oh this guy" Jondy's blush darkened to a deeper crimson.

Syl waved her spoon about above her head in proclamation "Ladies and Gentlemen" she said in an exaggerated voice "Introducing Jondy the tomato-human-feline hybrid transgenic, come one come all to the blushing beetroot show!"

She was greeted by a round of boos from the other girls. Max threw some left over popcorn at her. 

"Another movie anyone?"  

"Sure what else you got?" Jondy asked

"Well…" Max got up and went to the coffee table that was placed in the centre of the three sofas that surrounded the TV (think Alec's apartment) "There's 'Titanic', 'Scream', 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer' and 'Star Wars Episode 21' 

"Titanic"

"Titanic"

"Buffy"

"Titanic"

Jace sighed, "Fine, but when you're bawling don't blame me"

"How do you know?" Syl was adamant.

"Well I was kinda in the mood for one of those romance things and by the time I got to the end I couldn't contain myself, it was like a dam had burst"

"We're stronger than that"

"We'll see"

"More popcorn!" Jondy rushed to the cubby hole of a kitchen.

_Later, towards the end of the movie_

"I can't believe he did that for her! It's so romantic" Jondy reached for another tissue, a small pile lay beside her. Beside her, her siblings were in no better a state. Max had buried her head in an old cushion. The door opened with a slight squeaking sound and Alec walked in quickly then turned and closed the door behind him, he faced the girls and noticed for the first time that they were there and the condition that they were in. 

"Umm, you ladies okay?"

Max looked up from her cushion "Oh put a cork in it Alec"

He looked slightly offended, "Right, I'll come back later then"

"Yeah" Max rested her head on the couch "You do that"

Alec left as softly as he came. Jondy raised an eyebrow at Max "Was that really necessary?"

"I just want the apartment to ourselves, no males especially typical specimen example A- Alec McDowell."

"Think he got his last name from the whiskey?" Syl pondered with a thoughtful look. 

Max snuggled down and tried to get a better view of the screen "Wouldn't be surprised"

*********************

_4 AM_

Alec turned the key in the lock, he couldn't hear any noise coming from the other side of the door. He smiled briefly in the dark corridor, the only reason they had locks was because of Damario they had only recently installed them. The old locks did not have keys of course.

He finally opened it and stepped in, behind him Sydney wrapped her arms around him. She stood on tiptoes and playfully nipped him on his right ear. The girls were sprawled around the living room. Jondy took up one couch, Syl slept across a single seater sofa, opposite her Jace had done the same with the other single. Still facing the TV screen, Max sat on the floor, her back rested against the sofa that Jace occupied and she clutched a cushion tightly in her arms as her eyes moved in their sockets, dreaming.

Alec gently pried Sydney's arms off. He turned around and kissed her on the side of her mouth "Not tonight" he whispered. He still felt slightly weird when he looked at her, she was after all Lian's twin. 

She pouted then smiled up at him, she gave him a quick peck on the cheek and walked out softly closing the door behind her. Alec padded over to a closet and pulled out four blankets, they were thin but warm. They had suffered worse at Manticore. He softly padded over to the sleeping girls and covered them. He picked up Max and carried her to the other couch which was a three seater and softly set her down, she never let go of the cushion. He covered her and then turned and used the remote to put off the static filled TV screen. He quietly crept to his room, he didn't notice a pair of tawny orbs following him, they closed when the sound of a door closing was heard. Max snuggled down and drew the blanket around herself tighter. 

*******************

"Remember, never follow a regular pattern. That makes you complacent and gives your opponent an opportunity to strike, whatever you do don't just give away your fighting style just like that. Now I want to see some of those moves, you don't stop until I say so or until you're half dead, clear? Begin!" Max was taking the younger transgenics for training sessions. The older ones were required to train in their own free time if they couldn't make the regular training sessions. She watched impassively as the X and Y series battled it out. The toddlers and Faile watched from the sidelines. Faile had filled out since she arrived looked healthier, she also had the stamp of Manticore on her in the sense that she looked as pretty as any other Manticore soldier ever had. 

Jondy walked in, "Hey, how's it going baby sister?"

"Pretty okay. They're definitely up to par. Just a little more training and they'll be almost as good as before"

Jondy raised an eyebrow "Almost?"

Max shrugged "We don't have the facilities for 'as good as before', we're going to have to accept 'almost'" Jondy nodded and sat down on the mat at Max's feet. She patted the area beside her and Max sat down too. They watched the supersoldier youths together.

_An hour later_

"Okay! That's it for today, report to Shaile for recon lesson and I believe some of you have assignments to complete?" Max smiled "Good work! I'll expect better next time"

There was a collective groan from the kids, Max's smile widened into a grin and she sat back down to continue her animated discussion with her sister. From the corner of her eye she saw Dalton walking up to Faile and attempting to start a conversation, he looked distinctly uncomfortable and Max didn't think that it was because of the hard workout that he had just received. She batted Jondy on the arm and nodded towards them, Jondy turned to look.

"Well, well, well. Would you look at that?"

*

"Uhh, hi Faile"

She regarded him with those disturbingly sharp hazel eyes "Hello Dalton"

"Listen, I was wondering if you wanted to… if you wanted…" she cocked her head at him, her brow furrowed.

"Wanted to…?" she prompted.

"I don't know, hang out sometime?"

"Hang out?" she asked him quizzically.

"Right, I forgot you've been away from the public for a while. 'Hang out' is like a slang term for spending time together, you know as friends"

Faile's expression softened with a warm smile "I'd like that"

Dalton grinned and offered his hand; she looked at it pointedly not taking it. She quirked her eyebrows at him "Not until you have a long shower" His grin became wider, he grabbed her around the shoulders before she could stop him and led a protesting Faile away.

*

"He shoots, he scores" Jondy turned back to Max grinning. "Do I sense young love?" she said dramatically.

Max punched her "Yeah sure." She put on her own melodramatic voice and over exaggerated "For now is the time of spring when a young transgenic's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of… Alec?!" she ended incredulously.

"Alec?" Jondy spun around to see Alec limping towards them.

"Hey" he smiled.

"What happened?" Max asked, her tone implied that she believed that whatever caused him to limp was probably his fault and that he probably had it coming. 

"It's nothing, just twisted my ankle while coming down the steps" 

Max's expression said it all, it practically spelled it out- 'Idiot'. She didn't say it of course *How polite of her* he thought sarcastically.

"Darren wants to see you" he jerked his thumb back the way he came and turned to Jondy "And Mole wants to see you"

The pair ran off, leaving Alec to look after them.

************************************************************************


End file.
